


Crush

by Hudstrige1



Category: Shameless - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Humor, Ian is thirteen, Liam's a newborn, M/M, Mickey has the biggest crush ever, Mickey is fourteen, Slow Burn, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-11-08 04:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 68,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hudstrige1/pseuds/Hudstrige1
Summary: Fourteen year-old Mickey Milkovich didn't expect to fall head over heels for a seventh grader at his new shitty school. More importantly, a seventh grader boy. Then again, he never expected any of the things that happened in his year of eighth grade.But they happened anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave your feedback! :)

When it came to feelings for other people, fourteen year-old Mickey Milkovich really only experiences annoyance and great anger.  
He doesn't find many people very likable at all, really.  
And that includes most of his family.  
So when he had to move into a new crappy house into the crappy town of Chicago Illinois, thrilled wouldn't be a word to describe his reaction.  
He was glad to get away from all the shitty kids in his old Jersey middle school, but only knew that being relocated meant that there were more to come.  
"Listen Mandy," he asserts to his thirteen year-old sister one November weekday morning, to the only girl in the new Milkovich household, the morning of their first day.  
"People at our last school may have been able to know that we were related, but that was because we grew up there. Now, this is a new school. So no one can know I'm related to you. Okay?"  
"Fuck off, dick-head" is all she responds, giving him the finger and strutting away in the outfit that will very much get her dress coded.  
"I wouldn't want everyone know I'm related to a _slut!"_  
"Yeah well _I_ wouldn't want everyone knowing I'm related to a complete asshole!" Her voice slowly fades, now entering her own personalized room.  
"Iggy! Quit _touching_ my shit!"  
Jaimie and Joey, Mickey's older high school enrolled brothers, come busting out of the kitchen and purposely shove him out of the way.  
"Fuck off, assholes."  
They cackle at him. "Break a leg on your first day," Jaimie smiles, their laughing continuing. Mick rolls his eyes.  
"I'll break _your_ legs."  
"Try not to get beat up" Joey adds.  
They guffaw all the way out the door.  
Iggy and Mandy are now arguing up a storm in her room.  
Their father Terry comes dragging himself out of his room, where the yelling of his children was making his daily hangover even worse.  
"What the fuck are you kids yelling about?!" He darts his eyes over to Mickey, who's posture straightens and eyes shrink.  
Growing aware of his presence, Iggy and Mandy grow quiet in the other room.  
"I-I wasn't the one yelling...!" Mickey's voice shows innocence with a mix of fear in his tone, rather than the freshness and sass he shows towards his siblings.  
"Just get to goddam school before I _fuckin'_ beat ya" Terry threatens, while Mandy and Igs' slowly make their way out.  
"And you guys too!" Terry booms once he notices them.  
" _Out! Now!_ "  
The rest of the siblings have to catch up with Jaimie and Joey, who are already halfway out of their dangerous neighborhood with cigarettes in their mouths.  
"Don't associate with us." Iggy says to Mickey and Mandy, snatching Joey's cigarette out of his mouth and smoking it himself.  
"You guys are _literally_ going to the high school, _dumbass_ " Mandy insults.  
"So fuckin' what?" Jaimie asks. "The schools are right next to each other. We can't take any risks, lowlifes."  
Mickey only rolls his eyes.  
"Gimme a cigarette." He grabs for one.  
"No, shit-face. You're too young."  
"Oh, don't _gimme that shit."_ He scowls at Iggy's response. He lets him snatch one anyway.  
"Dad never woke up, did he?" Joey asks, helping Mickey light his cig.  
"Yes, but only because _somebody_ was being a noisy bitch." Mandy looks over at Iggy.  
" _You_ were the one acting like it was the end of the world!" He accuses.  
Mickey exhales the smoke from his mouth, holding on tight to the cigar with his fingers.  
"Probably disturbing his hangover," he mutters.  
"Have we ever seen him at a time when he's _not_ on something?" Mandy complains, the school now only ten minutes away within walking distance.  Coming close by to the alibi bar, Jaimie answers,  "Only hungover. If that even _counts."_  
"You _know_ he got away with killing Mom, right?" Iggy brings up.  
"He shoved a bunch of pills down her throat and made it look like a suicide. _That's_ why he made us move here."  
"Will you _shut the fuck up_ about that? _Jesus!"_ Mickey calls out, especially seeing Mandy uncomfortably tense up.  
"Wouldn't blame her even if she _did_ kill herself." Iggy adds.  
" _Shut_ the fuck up Iggy." Mick doesn't want to talk about it anymore.  
"Hey, kids! You guys." The one and only Frank Gallagher comes jogging up to them, his eyes rusty and odor worse than ever.  
"You got any cash?"  
The Milkovich kids can tell the difference between a homeless person in need, and a drug addict in need.  
" _No."_ Mandy cringes. The boys frown and close their noses to block out the scent.  
They keep walking.  
"Oh, come on! A cigarette. One cigarette." Frank speed walks along with them.  
"Fuck off, hobo" Joey says.  
"I have a home" Frank declares, stopping his feet and crossing his arms.  
"Then get the _fuck_ away from us" Mickey retorts, he and the group walking farther away as much as they can.  
"Is that any way to treat an adult?" Frank tests.  
" _Frank!_ Quit disturbing the youth of America!" Kevin Ball calls out, now standing in the bar's back door that's not too far behind.  
The kids laugh, now making a run for it.  
"Hate to be that guy's kid," Mandy comments.  
"Better than our Dad." Mickey concludes.  
And unfortunately, as much of a self-obsessed narcissistic and shitty father that Frank is, Mickey's still correct.

When arrived to the two schools just thirty feet apart, the older boys ditch them for the first periods they're gonna miss if they don't hurry up, leaving Mandy and Mickey awkwardly slumped next to each other in the middle school parking lot.  
"So I guess this is where we go separate ways?" She assumes.  
"Yep. Don't approach me unless you're gonna get raped" he instructs, cringing at her outfit for the second time.  
"Have fun trying to graduate this year," she retorts back.  
"I have _no_ idea who the fuck you are." He purposely shoves her out of his way as hard as he can and as fast as he can, while walking past her and up to the bottom school step.  
" _Fuck you!"_ She yells out, sticking up her middle finger.  
"Hey..." An eighth grader boy approaches her with the intent of flirting.  
She automatically kicks in-between his legs in response.  
Instead of heading to his first class like he _should_ be doing, Mickey makes his way to the bathroom to mope and pity at his reflection in the mirror.  
He cringes at the noticeable acne on his chin and forehead, pushing back his greasy dyed black hair.  
Besides smelling half decent, Mickey couldn't really care less about personal hygiene. It's not like his family can exactly afford it with their financial status. He's lucky if he can even get around to brushing his teeth _once_ a day.  
He groans in distress at the gunk he picks out of his right ear.  
Interrupting his cringe fest, is Karen Jackson and Lip Gallagher fucking mercifully in the handicapped stall.  
" _Jesus!_ " Mickey screams, having them come to an unpleasant stop.  
"Go somewhere _else,_ will ya?!" Mickey finishes his rant just as the second bell for first class rings.  
Door slamming against the wall when being thrown open, Lip walks out with a smirk on his face and his boner still sticking out of his jeans.  
A messy haired and right bra strap exposed Karen follows, letting out a giggle.  
"Sorry man" Lip jokingly apologizes, Mick trying his best not to take too much notice in Lip's hard on.  
He lets out a sigh of relief when the fuck buddies are finally gone.  
Hand slamming down on the sink, he glares at his fuming reflection in the mirror.  
"I fucking hate this school."

Not even by noon, Mandy's already causing trouble. More importantly, causing other people to cause trouble. 'Those people' being Karen Jackson.  
"Hey," she flirts with Lip, seeing him stroll by.  
He blinks automatically at the sight of her, eyes darting up and down her outfit.  
"Do you think you can show me around the school a little?" She smiles and twirls her hair.  
"Uh...Yeah okay, sure." Lip grins fascinatingly.  
Karen stands nearby, not liking what she's observing.  
"What the hell is this?" She asks, arms crossed and stomping over.  
Mandy rolls her eyes. "Calm your jugs, _bitch."_  
"That's my _fucking boyfriend, bitch."_  
" _Awww_ I'm _sorry!_ Excuse me and the _entire fucking world_ for not knowing that!" Mandy fake sympathies.  
Mickey walks by in the distance, noticing the confrontations and covering his face with his textbook. He just wants to get to lunch peacefully.  
"Karen, uh, you and I are not exactly dating..." Lip awkwardly clarifies.  
Mandy chortles.  
"Keep your mouth shut, _slut."_ Karen snaps, sending a slap across Mandy's face.  
"Hey!" Mickey notices, stomping over and ready to use his book as a weapon.  
"We got a problem here?!" He confronts Karen.  
"Fuck off, retard."  
" _Leave before I run you over with a car!"_ Mandy threatens, sending a quick punch to her nose that starts to bleed.  
Lip can only gawk in admiration.  
Noticing he's not attempting to help, Karen growls at him. "Fucking man-whore" she insults, strutting away in her heels.  
"I thought you only told me not to associate with you unless I was being raped." Mandy snaps to Mick.  
"What...?" Lip frowns.   
"Hey Lip." His friend jogs up to him, needing to give him a hard drive for class.  
"Here's your-" but Mandy leaves him tongue tied, eyes stuck to her body and dick rising in his jeans.  
Mickey confidently steps forward. "Got something you wanna say about my sister?"  
"What...?" The boy just notices his presence, along with the not so kind look on his face.  
"N-no. No. I-I was just leaving-" he shoves the drive over to Lip, nervously stepping away.  
But that's not enough for Mickey.  
He punches his stomach and pinches his skin; sending the kicks of his over to their face.  
" _Jesus,_ man!" Lip yells, while Mandy can only smile in amusement.  
Mickey helps send the kid spring away from them, by giving a nice quick shove of motivation.  
Lip can only stand there speechless.  
"Got something _you_ want to say about her?" Mickey tests, spitting on the ground.  
"N-no..."  
Mandy giggles at the both of them. "See ya psycho" she refers to Mickey, blowing a kiss at Lip and heading away.  
He stares in her direction with flushed cheeks and a toothy smile on his face.  
Mickey clears his throat in a grunt.  
"Oh. Y-yeah. Yeah. Sorry..." He looks back at him with paranoia.  
"You should really make some new friends who aren't pussies and friends with benefits who aren't clingy."  
Lip chuckles. "Yeah, will do. Your sister's tough."  
"Still gotta stick up for her." Mick points out.  
"You really know how to fight. You ever think about joining ROTC?"  
"What the fuck is an ROTC."  
He scoffs. "Army preparation."  
"I got better shit to do than lose my limbs and get post traumatic stress." Mick sasses.  
"You should still think about it," he's suggested to. "My brother participates. He's just one grade below us." He means Ian.  
Mick cringes at the thought. "Okay, uh, whatever. I don't got time to listen to your suggestions. Bye."  
And with that, he's on his way.  
Observing Mickey depart, Lip chuckles at his behavior and shakes his head.

Mandy figures that if Lip's not going to fall for her without making Mickey explode of fiery passion, she'll just move on to a different boy.  
Specifically, one more innocent, shy, and socially awkward.  
So she figures that the ginger haired face freckled kid sitting next to her in third period Science class isn't a bad start.  
Except little does she know that she's actually moving on the next youngest Gallagher brother.  
"Hey," she smirks.  
"Hi..." he blushes at the attention she's giving him.  
"What's your name?"  
"Ian..." He's taken away by her beauty.  
"I'm Mandy." She introduces just as the tardy bell sounds.  
With another smirk, she looks forward into the room with a flip of her hair.  
Ian laughs quietly and nervously, redness on his face and questions on his mind.  
In the middle of that same class, he can't help but notice the flirtatious eyes she gives him. What he _also_ can't help but notice, is the hard on that their male teacher has while specifically walking past her.  
Mandy sits stiffly in her chair, the anxiety that she's currently experiencing plastered all over her face.  
So, Ian pushes his floor bound backpack forward by just a few inches, to watch the pervert trip over so with a grunt and land on the floor.  
The class erupts in laughter.  
Feeling appreciated, Mandy gives Ian a genuine smile that he kindly returns.

She's not the only Milkovich that happens to be flirting with a Gallagher.  
In his high school senior chemistry class, Joey heart eyes Fiona Gallagher, his assigned partner that sits next to him at their work station.  
So far she hasn't said much to him, but he's going to change that.  
"So, I think it's kinda ironic how we're chemistry partners," he starts off, flicking his brows.  
Furrowing hers, she's trying to figure out what the hell to say to that.  
"Um, what?"  
"You know, me, you..."  
She laughs. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, buddy."  
"How much harder would you like me to try?" He sits up in his stool, accidentally knocking down an empty glass beaker with his elbow.  
Fiona scoffs, lightly shaking her head.  
"What, you already seeing someone?"  
"Don't got time to."  
"Whatcha doing later?" He's not giving up.  
"Raising five kids and working my shift."  
"Single Mom. Nice."  
"My _siblings_ , asshat."  
"Independent woman. I like it."  
"We should _really_ get to the assignment. Or the assignment that I do all on my own where you just watch?" She tests icily.  
He snickers. "Whoa there, honey. Relax. I got it. I know what I'm doing."  
"Fine. Then I'll just sit back, relax, and watch you do it."  
"My pleasure," again he smirks.  
One thing leads to another, and by the end of class Joey has to be sent to the chemical shower.

"God, man, geometry fucking _sucks_." Mick rants to Lip after their last class of the day, walking down the hallway together and just wanting to get the hell out of there.  
"I didn't understand _fuck_ _all_."  
"Ya know maybe I can tutor you, if you want." Lip breezily suggests.  
"No charge?"  
" _Yes_ charge." Lip chuckles.  
"Fine. I'll figure something out."  
" _Asshole_ ," Karen insults Lip, purposely shoving past him.  
" _Jesus_. What's _her_ deal?" He complains.  
"She probably thinks you're gonna start fucking my sister. Which you're _not_. Kapish?" Mickey points over to him.  
"Relax, man. I mean she's cool but she's still a seventh grader."  
Mickey twists his mouth and darts his eyes at him with misunderstanding.  
"There's my brother." Lip points over to Ian, who's cautiously guiding himself down to hall.  
Mickey's feet stick to the floor just at the sight of him. His body turns stiff and his mouth dries.  
" _That's_ your brother?" He can't take his eyes off of the pale skinned freckled faced ginger kid, his heart doing somersaults just at the thought of speaking to him.  
"Yeah. Ian. The one in ROTC."  
_Fuck._  
"Yo, Ian!"  
Mickey's face is already burning just knowing he's going to be approaching them.  
"Hey," Ian greets them during his jog over, Mickey's pits sweating just at the sound of his voice. Even his voice is cute.  
"This is Mickey. He's new."  
"Hi," Ian already feels intimidated, though he still can't deny his slight attraction.  
Mick only nods his head forward, Lip giving him a confused glance.  
Knowing he's making a fool of himself, Mickey wants to repeatedly punch himself in the face.  
" _Ian!"_ Mandy beams from the end of the hall, sprinting over and wrapping her arms around his waist.  
Both Lip and Mickey frown.  
"Hey," he laughs slightly, looking over at her with returned redness on his face.  
Mickey doesn't like the sight of that, and neither does Lip.  
"I just wanted to thank you again for saving me back there in Science," she twirls her hair.  
"Y-you've thanked me four times, but--yeah." Ian forces a chuckle.  
Mickey rolls his eyes at her obvious flirting.  
"That's my brother. Right Mick? You're my _brother."_ Mandy stares right into his eyes.  
He flips her off.  
"Oh, wow," Ian giggles nervously, already feeling threatened by Mickey enough. It doesn't help that they're related.  
"That's _my_ brother." Ian points to Lip, who rapidly waves over to her.  
"Hm," she smirks with glowing eyes, stepping away from Ian. "Your father must be gorgeous, then."  
The three boys all almost gag. Lip's eyebrows raise, while Ian quietly laughs and Mickey fumes. She just wants her to stop already. Enough of this.  
Meanwhile, when it comes to the brothers, if only Mandy knew that their father was the man trying to get money from her this morning.  
Though Lip still takes that as a sign of her flirting with specifically him.  
"And your mother must be quite gorgeous, Mandy."  
Mickey cringes in his direction. Just _kill_ him now. He wants to puke.  
But Mandy's reaction to his flirt isn't so nice. She practically whimpers, eyes locking to the ground with the dreaded thoughts of her deceased mother inside her head.  
" _Jesus_ ," Mick whispers harshly, grabbing onto her hand.  
"Just wait outside okay? I'll be right there." He can't go through another one of her emotional episodes.  
"Uh-uh did I-" Lip's stuttering, but she cuts him off.  
"It's fine" she wipes her tears and looks up at him while forcing away Mickey's hand.  
"I'll see you, okay Ian?" She forces a smile, kissing his cheek.  
Lip's mouth almost drops open, offended that she's not giving him her attention.  
Mickey cringes at the flattery on Ian's face. His smile is tiny.  
"Bye Mandy..."  
Lip wants to snack him across his freckled face, while Mickey wants to slap Mandy across hers.  
After she's gone, Ian clears his throat and tries to ignore the death glares he's receiving.  
"Uh-uh-I'll see you guys..."  
"Yeah." Mickey's voice tightens, standing up taller and clenching his jaw.  
"B-bye..." he takes off before he can get his ass kicked.  
"Ugh, she's such a _whore!"_ Mickey groans about Mandy.  
"You don't _like_ her, do you?" He fires to Lip.  
"N-no..." his lie fails.  
" _God_. Just stay away from her, okay? You _and_ your freckled ass brother."  
The freckled ass brother that won't leave his mind.  
" _Why_ are you so pissed?" Lip frowns.  
"Because I don't need punks like _you_ _guys_ fucking up her life."  
"Relax, okay? I get that you're protective. But, I wouldn't worry about Ian."  
"Why not..." he's blushing again.  
"Because he's not really into girls like that."  
Or into girls at all.  
"I am, though." He smiles.  
" _Lip._ Don't make me punch you."  
All he does is laugh.  
"Besides, she seems pretty into _freckles_ over there." Mickey hates to say it.  
"That'll change." Lip's confident.  
"Whatever. You gonna tutor me or what?" He wants to see Ian again no matter what, how, and where.  
"I thought you didn't have money-"  
"Just gimme a sec and I'll get some."  
Lip chuckles.  
"Your brother gonna be there?" Mickey tries to sound careless.  
"Probably not. He has ROTC-"  
"That thing you wanted me to do. Yeah. Yeah. That thing. It's not too late to sign up for that, is it?" He's desperate.  
It takes a few seconds for Lip to speak.  
"Uh, no..." He blinks. "I'll see you, okay Mick?"  
Deep in thought about what to do, Mickey says nothing while Lip walks away from him.

Instead of meeting Mandy outside like he said he would, Mickey confidently stomps his way down to the front office.  
"Where's the shit to sign up for ROTC?"  
The secretary doesn't like his first impression.

 


	2. Blockage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey signs up for ROTC, while his jealousy towards Mandy liking Ian, and his crush towards Ian himself, grows even more. Meanwhile, he's not actually the one in denial about his sexuality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments! I loved all the nice ones you guys left on the last chapter :) <3

Outside of the high school, Mandy meets up with three of her brothers with a red nose and tears running down her face.  
" _Christ,_ Mandy I _told_ you not to wear that skirt!" Iggy criticizes.  
" _No, dumbass."_  
"Why _else_ would you be crying?" Jaimie asks, while Mandy flicks a tear of hers at him.  
"Fuck off. I'm not talking about it."   
Proudly jogging up and over to them with his ROTC forms , Mickey's moment crumples when he sees his sister's crushed emotional state.  
" _C'mon,_ Mandy, you don't gotta keep crying," he whines, breathing out a sigh.  
"What the hell are those things?" Jaime points to what Mickey holds.  
"None of your _business,_ _ass_ munch."  
In response, Iggy pridefully swipes the papers away.  
" _Give it!"_ Mickey can't try getting them back without receiving a paper cut.   
"ROTC forms?" Joey laughs aloud, reading what the papers say.  
"What is that," asks Iggy.  
"Sargent _fuck-wad_ here wants to join the army."   
The two brothers cackle and point at him, Mickey fuming harder than ever in their direction.  
" _Shut up!"_ He screams, snatching the papers back this time with multiple cuts.  
" _Guys!_ Shut up! Here she comes." Joey announces, looking straight in her direction.  
"Who." Mandy asks.  
"Her..."  
"What _happened_ to you" Mickey asks, just now noticing that he's still somewhat moist from the chemical shower.  
Instead of a proper answer, he gets shushed flat out shushed.  
The girl that Joey is dreamily pointing over to with his finger, is no one other than senior Fiona Gallagher, starting her walk home with Lip, who sticks by her side.  
"Hey Fiona!" He happily waves to her, leaving her stopping in her tracks to look over.  
"Oh. _Hey_...Jake."  
"It's _Joey_ " he corrects, as Lip and every Milkovich sibling but Joey starting to laugh.  
"That your _boyfriend?"_ He jealously points to Lip.  
"My _brother, dumbass."_  
"He part of the wolf pack you take care of?"  
"Yup...We should get going."  
"Wait, so, uh, you need help with anything?" Joey doesn't want her to leave.  
'Wow' is all Lip can mouth to Mick, the two of them quietly laughing together.  
"Yeah, this clingy guy won't leave me alone."  
Mandy's laugh brightens up Lip's day, having him look over at her.  
"Hi Mandy..."  
She blows another kiss, and he blushes.  
Again, Mick rolls his eyes.   
"Alright, well, we should get going" Fiona giggles at Lip's love struck face, pulling him away before he creams all over the parking lot.  
Once out of earshot and eyesight, Mickey glares at Mandy.  
"Make up your damn _mind,_ will ya? One minute you're all over _him_ and the next you're all over... _Ian."_ His heart rattles around just saying his name.   
"All in the family," she teases, giggling at her own words.  
"I _will get_ that girl to go out with me..." Joey declares.  
"You just want to get laid." Iggy accuses.  
" _Shut up."_  
Joey and Mandy most certainly aren't the only ones with attractions to a Gallagher family member.  
Mickey takes one quick look down at his forms, hastily planning a quick idea within his head.  
"Uhhh I'll be right back."  
"Mickey what the _hell?!"_ Mandy asks, as he sprints away determinedly sprint all the way back over onto the middle school property, and into the actual building. He's running so fast that he almost drops his papers.  
"Hey yo" he greets the same African American secretary in the main office.   
"You know where the ROTC class thing is held?"  
"Go around the back, past the trailers, and it's located on your right hand side."  
"'Kay. I'd just like to get a sneak peak of what I could be getting myself into, ya know." He flicks an eyebrow.  
"Mm-hm. And Mr. Milkovich?"  
"What's up."  
"If you're planning to bravely serve our country, I suggest you change your attitude."  
She hears him call her a bitch under his breath on his way out.

He follows the bitchy secretary's directions, knowing he's found the jackpot when he spots up to about forty middle school aged boys all wearing the same outfits and practicing training routines on nearby green grass. Standing a distance that's not too far away, but not too close to be considered creeping either, it takes Mickey a few moments to spot Ian. And oh boy when he _does,_ his knees practically buckle.  
If he thought Ian looked good in general, his heart is doing backflips this time at the sight of him in his camouflaged soldier outfit.  
He studies his arm muscles and the sweat dripping down his face, being caused by the intense tire jumping drills the entire class is doing.  
They're demanded a break, Mickey's chest intensifying when watching Ian come to a stop and catch his breath, now walking away to get a drink of water.   
When he actually does in fact notice him from the distance, Mickey jumps his way behind the nearest tree.  
" _Shit._ " His forms drop to the ground.  
Daring himself to peak back out in the groups direction, he witness a shy and hesitant Ian making his way over.  
' _He's nervous to talk to me too...'_ Mickey thinks, heart only rattling even more.  
"Are you gonna threaten me...?" Ian asks once he's made his way over.  
The light in Mickey's eyes die.  
' _Only_ because he's scared of me.'   
"What? Uh, no..." he keeps his tone lightheaded for once in his life. This is the first time he can ever recall talking sincerely. Holy _shit._ His palms are sweating and his knees practically shake.  
"I actually came here to _warn_ you."   
"About how you're gonna hurt me-?"  
" _No."_ This time his tone comes out unintentionally rude. He doesn't like the helpless look on Ian's face.  
"Uh-uh I-" he wants to take one of those tires and hang himself with it.   
Ian perks up at his noticeable nervousness, eyebrows raised and eyeballs intrigued. Curious. He has a feeling something's wrong.  
But not in the way Mickey knows something is wrong.  
"About my sister. She's hella clingy." Mickey's tone is back to normal.  
"Oh, well, I think she's really sweet-"  
"Yeah yeah whatever." Mickey doesn't want to hear him talk her up. Not that Mandy isn't dating material; she is. He just doesn't want her being dating material for Ian. Luckily enough, Lip seems pretty interested in her too.   
He's not happy about _that_ either, but it'll have to do.  
"A-and I'm pretty sure she's into your brother." He's seen the signs and it'd be wrong of him to not bring it up.  
But he regrets it when seeing the hurt in Ian's eyes.  
"Oh. Really?" He terribly plays it off with a forced scoff. "Yeah of _course_ -I should've known. Y-you know Lip. He just has that charm..."  
' _So do you!'_ Mickey wants to scream to him while shaking his entire body.   
"I don't know for sure, okay?"  
"Can't you just like, ask her?"   
"She's hard to crack open. But, I'll see what I can do."   
"Thanks." Ian's smile practically melts Mickey to the ground.  
"Y-yeah." He forces a clearing of his throat, eyes going back down to the scattered papers everywhere.  
"What's that?" Ian takes notice.  
"Nothing! It's nothing." He doesn't know why he's freaking out so much about this, complete panic in his tone instead of anger.  
Ian picks them up and shuffles them out of order, Mickey's heart thumping and body sweating more than Ian's, if that's even possible.  
The casual look he's giving him is forced.  
"You wanna join?" Ian can easily read one of the pages.  
There's now a lump in Mickey's throat.  
"Uh-uh yeah. Th-that's kinda why I stopped by. Ya know, to check you out- _it. Out._ To check it out." Mickey's never prayed before, but holy hell if he isn't now praying like wildfire. To someone. Somewhere. _Something._  
"Yeah you should _totally_ join. You'd do great. Way better than me." Ian chuckles.   
"Oh, I _doubt_ that" Mickey laughs nervously.  
"Gallagher! Front and center!" He's instructed back, his and Mickey's eyes dampening.  
"I really gotta get back. But hopefully I'll see you here soon. Sign up!"  
"Okay..." Mickey just might faint.   
"Tell your sister hey!" Ian calls out, sprinting back over to his spot.  
And that's what ruins Mickey's moment. His jaw clenches and the lump returns to his throat.

Now walking through the parking lot with a swelled chest and breathing problems, Mick knows that whatever just happened over there sent him on a complete high. A cloud. Not exactly cloud nine, but maybe cloud eight. Or seven. Those exist right?  
Screw it. Mickey is past cloud nine. If that's even possible. He can't even speak because he's so in shock.  
Ian in his army camo. Ian's brown eyes making their way over to his. Ian jogging over and talking to him. Ian looking adorably nervous. Ian smiling and _suggesting he sign up._  
It plays on a loop in his mind. Those sign up forms in his hands might as well be a ticket to the promised land. A more violent and intense promised land, but still a promised land.  
" _Milkovich!"_ His high is wrung dry, when stopping in his tracks and seeing a running figure charging towards him.  
A.K.A the boy he had earlier beaten up. The boy that gave Lip the hard drive. The boy who checked out Mandy, and the boy who wants revenge. He's still scratched up quite a bit, which gives Mickey some confidence, but is still not liking the evil he sees in his eyes.  
" _Ah fuck"_ he curses, spinning around and making a run for it.

Back in the high school parking lot, he sprints his way over to his more bored than ever siblings, that have been sitting and waiting for him on the sidewalk for more than five minutes.   
When it comes to the real world, the Milkovich siblings don't separate. They stick together as much as they can, for however long they can.   
"We were _waiting_ for you, asshole." Iggy glares up at him while Joey plays with a rock and Mandy anxiously chews on a stick.  
"Just _run!"_ Mickey demands, wasting no time.  
"Oh, _what'd you do?!"_ Jaimie shouts over, all of them standing up and Joey picking up an emotionally shut down Mandy in his arms.  
The only thing they can do is helplessly follow.

" _Dammit Mickey"_ Iggy rants back home, the five of them now smushed together alone in the boys' room. Terry left throughout the day, making the kids job of being on the lookout for Mickey's new nemesis much easier and less complicated.  
"Why'd you beat him up in the _first_ place?!" The four boys stand before one of the only two bed's in the room, that Mandy stays stuck face first in trembling against the mattress.  
"He was _lookin' at Mandy, that's_ why!" Mick shouts to him, turning Mandy's sobs even louder.  
" _Mands',"_ he sighs out, turning devastated for her and staring down at her back.   
"It's gonna be fine." He sits down and rests his hand on her.  
This is what happens whenever somebody mentions her mother. She shuts down emotionally and begins to grieve endlessly. When it's really bad she has crying fits, and even panic attacks that leaves the boys no choice but to shoplift Benadryl.  
"C'mon Mands'" Mick strokes her hair. "You wanna help me fill out my ROTC sheets?" He thinks that'll cheer her up.  
"No."  
"Come on, _help_ me!" He whines, now pulling her by her left hand.  
"Nooo...!" She complains, face having no choice but to lift up from the pillow, her tears and dripping makeup everywhere.  
" _Come on,_ you can help me spell my full name!"  
Iggy scoffs, he and the two other brothers witnessing Mickey ending up having to physically drag Mandy out of the bed.

At the Gallagher house, six year-old kindergartner Debbie, is showing Fiona and Lip the picture she drew that allegedly makes her teacher 'to have a conference with one of her parents.' They, and Carl surround her inside the kitchen.  
"There's you, and Lip, and Ian, Carl, and there was even a brown marker to draw Liam!"  
" _Ah..."_ She sees that Debbie had drawn freckles on Ian's face, and drew Fiona holding the infant.  
"And look! I drew daddy too!" She points to an accurately drawn Frank that stands next to Fiona.  
" _Oh...!"_ Some accurate details she sees incredibly concern her.  
"And look! I drew the brown bottle in his hand, and the stick thingy in his mouth."  
"Is that supposed to be Monica...?" Lip sees that Debbie put her far to the side.  
"Her _name's_ Mom! And yeah, I put her far away because she's not always here with us. But look! I gave her a sad face and a happy face. My teacher was confused about that."  
Lip and Fiona unfortunately know what that's supposed to represent.  
"What did you tell your teacher when she asked why you gave her two different expressions?" Lip asks.  
"I told her that those are Mom's two different feelings. Super happy-!" She grins to show the realism-"and super sad." She makes a forced pouting face.  
"Ohhh..." Lip's tone is dark.  
"Can you hang it on the fridge?! _Please?_ " Debbie's proud of her work.  
" _Uhhh..._ " Fiona smiles. "Sure." She hesitantly takes it from her. Lip uncomfortably raises his eyebrows and gazes away.   
"Here's _my_ picture." Five year-old Carl who's in his last year of pre-school says, handing Fiona the paper.  
She and Lip dare to look at it.  
"What is that...?" Fiona doesn't want to know, but asks anyway.  
"It's my teacher getting struck by lightning, _and_ having her butt eaten off by alligators at the same time."  
" _Carl!_ Why're you so mean?!" Debbie frowns at him, hands going to her hips.  
"Carl _why_ would you draw that." Fiona scolds.  
"It's actually a pretty well detailed drawing" Lip observes, and Fi' hits the back of his head.  
"Because she's such a _bitch!"_  
" _Carl!"  
"You say it!"  
"I'm_ an adult" Fiona affirms, hanging up both the drawings on the refrigerator right next to each other.  
Debbie grins.   
"How was _your_ school Fiona?" She wants to know.  
"Same old. A boy I got paired up with had to take a shower in chemistry today."  
Lip chortles.  
"You take showers in class?" Carl asks.  
"Only if you get dangerous chemicals on you."  
"Was this the same guy that kept trying to say bye to you in the parking lot?" Lip smiles.  
"Yes," she laughs.  
"I've talked to his brother. He's pretty cool."  
"Well maybe you can tell him to tell his brother that he needs to lay off."  
"Their sister's pretty cute," Lip smiles cheekily.  
"Was this the same girl that blew you a kiss in the parking lot?" Fiona smiles, now remembering the five siblings all standing together across from them.  
"Yup." Lip grins.  
Debbie giggles and thinks it's cute, while Carl cringes and claims he's going to be sick.   
Fiona chuckles at the youngest boy, before checking the clock which has her stress resume.  
" _Crap._ Lip, hurry up and go get Liam from Sheila's and bring him back so I can get to my shift."  
"Uhh...Do I have to do it?" He asks, not really in the mood to run into Karen.  
" _Yes, Lip. Now. Please."_  
"Alright, alright," he sighs, knowing he has to do what she says.   
"What's the big deal." She asks him.  
"Just-you know her daughter that I 'hang out' with?" Lip knows he can't say the truth with the kids around.  
"Yes." Fiona's not impressed.   
"She's kinda mad at me because she knows I like the girl from the parking-lot."  
"Well she's just gonna have to get over herself. Now suck it up and go. Go, Lip, _now!"_  
On the way there, Lip purposely takes one big step within each sidewalk square to stall time.

"Oh, Lip, hi! Hello, hello, come in!" Greets Sheila Jackson with the door half open, smiling at Lip who slouches on her porch.  
"Hey, Sheila." He forces a smile.  
"Well all you gotta do is take your shoes off and Liam is all yours."  
"Great," he comments, awkwardly doing as told and walking inside wearing his white socks. He knows he should be used to it by now, but each time he's forced to take off his shoes, the weirder he feels.  
"Here he _is!"_ Sheila sings, picking Liam up out of his jumperoo and carefully handing him over.  
" _Heyyy,_ tough guy" Lip says to him. Liam looks up with with a cooing mouth and innocent eyes.  
"He was _such_ a sweet boy." Sheila informs.  
"Aw, did you have fun at Sheila's? Yes you did. Yes you _did-! Oh shit."_ Lip's baby talk towards Liam is ruined, when he sees Karen scowling at him from the top of the staircase with crossed arms.  
"Oh, Karen come say bye to Liam!" Sheila smiles.  
Instead, she shrieks into the air and charges towards Lip boldly as she can. Sheila gasps overwhelmingly.  
" _Fuck!"_ Lip yells, running out of the house and slamming the front door in Karen's face.  
" _LIP!!! I AM GOING MAKE YOU REGRET YOU EVEN LOOKED AT THAT EMO TWELVE YEAR OLD BITCH!"_ He can hear her yelling from the walkway as he frantically sprints past the open garage. Liam shows no reaction to the situation.  
" _LIP!"_   
Sensing her just a few fast steps behind him, he panics and slides into the garage, grabbing the nearest placed rake as a defense weapon.  
" _Karen! Don't_ make me use this." He aims it at her. "You _basic bitch!"_ He can only cover one of Liam's ears.  
She pounces at him ready to attack. Flinching and dodging her hit to keep Liam safe and away, he finds himself accidentally scratching her face with the gardening tool.   
Specifically her eye.  
She screams. She cries. She curses at him. Shocked and shaking, he drops the rake and cringes at the blood running down her right eye.  
All the commotion causes Sheila to actually step out onto the porch.  
"Sorry Liam!" Lip feels the need to frantically apologize to the baby still resting in his arms, while running down their driveway.   
"Lip! _Wait!_ You forgot your _shoes...!"_ Sheila calls out.  
Karen comes running up to her, who almost falls over at the sight of her condition.  
" _Oh my God!"_

Back at the Milkovich household that still gladly lacks Terry, Mickey and a calmed down Mandy sit on the busted up living room couch, while the other brothers' mess around in their room.  
"I'm gonna have to forge Dad's signature." Mickey's reading over the ROTC forms.  
Mandy snickers over at the information he's written down already.  
"Not with _that_ handwriting. Gimme that." She takes everything from him, beginning to forge the signature herself.  
"You okay?" Mickey can still notice the bleak look in her eyes.  
"I will be." She says, finishing her work.   
" _Nice._ " He observes. "You know you're gettin' better at that."  
"Want me to just fill everything in?" She teases. He scoffs with a fake eye roll. "As you wish."  
Over the next few seconds, the only noise in the air is Mandy's pen writing and the brothers' bantering in the other room.  
"So, do you like, really wanna do this?" Mandy doesn't believe it, looking up and scoffing at him.  
"What do you mean."  
"Like, 'serve our country,'" she deepens her voice for mock effect. "You could get hurt." She turns serious.  
"Relax, Mands'. I never said I was goin' into the fuckin' _navy._ " He clears the air.   
"So why are you doing it?"   
He has to bite his tongue, all the color from his face disappearing.  
"Just...Want somethin' to do...Enough about me. What about you." He gives her a hard look.  
"I--I miss her." Eye contact is broken, her returning tears dripping down into the paper and staining the pen ink.  
"We all do..."  
"Not _Dad._ _He's_ the one that-"  
" _Don't_ believe what Iggy said, okay? It's just him and his _fucked up_ conspiracies."  
" _Why_ would she overdose, though..." She continues to cry. "That's not _like_ her. She would never _leave_ us."  
"Accident?" He brings up.  
"Or accidentally on purpose..." she whispers gravely, thinking back to Terry again.  
" _Stop_ " he whispers, bringing her in close and letting them lean her head on his chest.  
She continues to cry it out while he bitterly stares away and strokes her hair.  
Joey ruins the moment, loudly bursting into the room, eyes glued to the notepad he's determinedly written on.  
"What are you doing" Mick asks as he mindlessly walks past them, pushing Mandy away while she frantically wipes off her tears.  
"I wrote down a bunch of ways to get Fiona to like me."  
Mickey groans in agony, while Mandy cringes and rolls her eyes. " _Christ, Joey."_ She whispers _._  
"'Idea number one'-"   
"We don't _care!_ " Mandy drags on in a whine, giving a begging look which he returns with an offended scowl.  
" _Your_ loss. _Prudes._ " He insults, irritably stomping into the kitchen.  
"He's ridiculous" Mandy laughs somewhat.  
Instead of laughing along with her, Mickey's returned to his deep thinking.  
"Mandy? How do you get guys to like you?" He words it in a way that makes him fear he just outed himself.  
"How do _I_ get guys to like _me?_ " She assumes that's what he meant.   
"Yeah-yeah that's what I meant..." He sweats.  
"Is that an insult?" She accuses.  
"No, no! I'm just...Wondering."  
"I just flirt with 'em."  
"How do you flirt?" Flirting is like a second language to Mick. He doesn't understand any of it. Is there a certain way girls flirt with guys, and guys flirt with girls? What about gay guys? _Not_ that he's labeling himself. _Should_ he?  
"Relax, Mick."  
"Why..." His heart is a gymnasium star again.  
"I know what's going on. I'm a girl. So I know what girls' like. I can _totally_ teach you how to flirt with girls."   
Joey comes scrambling out of the kitchen, pizza roll in his mouth and hands dropping his notepad from the adrenaline.  
"Can you teach me too?!" He's panting from just running to his destination.  
" _No!_ "

When Ian returns home safely from ROTC later on, Lip knows he won't believe the story he's about to tell him surrounding the 'eye incident' with Karen.   
"Ian. _Listen_ to this," he announces when Ian comes running into the room they share with Liam and Carl, Lip sitting on his very own bed.  
"What the _hell,_ Lip." He angrily responds, turning to him and throwing the camo hat off his head.   
"Shit. She tell you about what happened when you were on your way over here? Did she make it look like I did it on purpose...?" Lip worries.  
" _What_ are you talking about. _I'm_ talking about Mandy." Ian icily clarifies.  
"Did she say anything about me...?" Lip hopes.  
" _Probably_. Mickey came by to check out ROTC."  
"Oh really? Good for him I really think he should-"  
"Let me _finish!_ We got to talking and he said she probably likes you. _Not_ me, _you._ "  
" _Jesus,_ " Lip cringes, now standing up.  
"So what if it _is_ true? What do _you_ care?"  
"' _What_ _do_ _I_ _care?!'_ _I_ like her _too,_ Lip."  
He almost laughs.   
"Aw, c'mon, Ian I can't help that I was born smarter and handsomer-"   
" _Stop!"_ Ian's fuming. "This is the _first_ time a girl's ever liked me and here _you_ come planning to swipe her away-"   
" _Oh_ my God," Lip's already tuned out Ian's ridiculous yelling, sighing out and rolling his eyes. He can't do this anymore. If Ian doesn't know now, then he never let himself will.  
"Ian you're gay." He flatly interrupts him.  
" _What?!_ " He yells, face now red and tight.  
"You. Are. _Gay_. G-A-Y. A.K.A. a _homosexual._ A man that likes other men. Or in your case boy-"  
"Cut it _out,_ Lip! It's not _funny!_ You're _not_ being funny!" Ian's practically spitting, now.   
"I'm being _serious!_ The _only_ reason you think you like Mandy is because this is the first girl that's liked you. You're just tricking yourself into going along with it-"  
" _Stop_ _it_. Okay _STOP_ TALKING. I'm not FUCKING GAY." He wipes his tears.  
"Ian-"  
" _Stop!_ You're just doing this because _you_ want Mandy _all_ to yourself-"  
"Dammit Ian if you would just listen to me-"  
"Quit making up lies! I'm _not_ _gay!_ _You're_ gay! Fuck off..."   
Ian's officially done with his rant, leaving Lip panting in fury and staring at him with tear stung eyes.  
" _Ian-_ "  
"I'm _leaving_." _  
"No Ian. Ian! Ian-!_ "  
The door is slammed harder than ever on his way out.  
Lip jumps from the noise, causing his tears to double in numbers.   
"Ian how was army class? Ian? Ian-?" Debbie's asking after seeing him for the first time since this morning, witness him stomping through the kitchen in tears.  
" _Ian?_ "  
Now outside, Lip isn't the only Gallagher that's crying anymore.

Back at the Milkovich house, still sitting with Mickey in the same spots on the couch where the 'army class' forms have been entirely filled out and ready to go, Mandy has a question in need of an answer.  
"Where did you go away from the parking lot earlier?"  
His eyes shrink. "What...?"  
"You ran away. Where'd you go?" She continues.  
Mickey's rapidly blinking and blushing heavily. "I-I went to check out ROTC, so what?"  
"Isn't Ian in ROTC?" She wonders.  
"I don't _know_ , how should _I_ know? What about him?" He's growing defensive.  
"Chillax, okay? I just happen to think he's _really_ cute-"  
"I don't _wanna_ hear about your boy talk, okay?" He interrupts nastily.  
"Oh my God you're so _annoying_!" She yells, just before there's a loud bang coming from outside.  
" _Shit._ " Mick whispers, eyes darting to the door.  
"Who is it?" Mandy worries.   
"Probably that guy who's here to beat me." Mickey stands up to get his nunchucks.  
Except it's _not_ the specific guy seeking for a beat down that Mickey's _thinking_ of.  
Terry practically kicks down the door, causing Mandy to squeal and take cover for the boys' room.  
Mickey grows stiff, heart dropping and eyes burning.  
"What the _fuck_ are you _looking_ at?!" Terry yells, stomping over him.  
When Terry's drunk, high, under the influence of _whatever_ he's been taking, he grows angry. Angry at anything and everything,  
"N-nothing!" Mickey's in clear crisis mode.   
" _Gimme_ _that_ shit" Terry growls, tearing away the papers from his hands.  
"Stop!" Mickey screams with fear again, clenching his nose at the stench of booze coming from Terry's breath.  
He laughs, when reading the sign up sheets.  
"ROTC, huh?" Terry grins evilly.  
"Dad just gimme the papers-"  
He's interrupted with another laugh.  
"Well since you seem to think you know so much on how to fight," Terry doesn't even finish, his fist going right into Mickey's face.  
"Mickey!" Mandy screams from his room, trembling at the noise. He and the other boys sitting behind her, Iggy has no choice but to pull her back.  
Hearing her cry from inside, Mickey struggles to even try to stand up off of the floor.  
"Aw-ha-ha, _that's_ cute" Terry bitterly smiles down at the forms he holds.  
"What a load of shit."  
Helpless and hopeless on the ground, Mickey cries to the sound of Terry ripping up each paper one by one.  
The shreds land right in front of his eyes.

 


	3. You Got It Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Lip is trying to steer clear of a revenge seeking Karen, Mickey's over the moon at the start of his friendship with Ian, but over his head about Ian's relationship with Mandy.  
> Except that all changes when Lip tells her what he does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Sorry for the late update <3   
> Please leave feedback!

That next morning, Fiona is trying to feed baby Liam in his high hair, while catching up on her pre-Algebra homework at the same time.  
"Want your peaches? _Yeah?"_ She asks in a smile, lightly putting some in his mouth.  
Debbie and Carl sit together at the table, eating their syrup drenched waffles.  
" _Stop!_ " Debbie squeals when Carl cockily has the bottle aimed towards her.  
He laughs, going back to spraying some in his mouth.  
"You're _gross_ " she comments, cringing at the sight.  
Fiona lets out a quick groan while currently reading her next problem.   
"Lip!! I need your help with this!!!" She screams up to the second floor.  
She gets no answer, but is too focused on attempting to give Liam another bite.  
"Liam no no _no_ -!" She yells, seeing he's about to knock down his container of fruit all over her open paged textbook.  
" _Liam! No!"_ She scolds once the liquid and food are all over the page she's trying to complete.  
He begins to cry from the obvious anger and stress coming towards his way, instantly turning the eighteen year-old sympathetic.  
"Oh Liam, no no no! It's okay sweet boy. It's _fine!_ " She's frantically trying to calm him down, while Lip sluggishly drags himself down the staircase.  
"Why are you wearing sunglasses inside?" Debbie observes once he's made his way to floor, particularly eyeing the hoodie he wears over his head.   
"You better not be too stoned to not know how to help me with this," Fiona comments, wiping down the textbook page that Liam flawed, with the help of a paper towel.  
"Not high. On the down low."   
"Look's like Karen's gonna be needing a pair of sunglasses too," Carl grins, recalling the story he overhead about the rake incident.  
"Lip _what_ is he talking about..." Fiona frowns at him.  
"I accidentally scratched her eye with a rake but that was only because she kept trying to attack me with Liam around."  
" _Christ,_ " Fiona whispers, cringing at the thought. "This is _still_ about the parking-lot girl?"  
"Yup."  
" _I_ think it's pretty funny." Carl comments, ripping apart his waffles with bare hands.  
"Just be _quiet_ and eat your breakfast like a normal human being." Fiona's not in the mood.  
Ian walks down the stairs next, catching everyone's eyes and leaving their mouths hung open.  
"Wow. Lookin' sharp, Ian." Fiona finally comments.  
"I know," he's confident in himself, walking by Lip whose eyes are rolling under his sun glasses.  
"He's just doing it to get attention." He retorts.  
" _Shut up_ " Ian barks to him. "You're just jealous" he adds.  
"Of what," Lip laughs bitterly. "You and  _Mandy?"_  
"Parking lot girl?" Fiona asks.  
" _Yes_." Lip stresses. "God, you're so _annoying!_ " He rants to Ian.  
"I always knew a girl would come between you guys someday," Debbie butts in.  
"He doesn't even _like_ her!" Lip screams.  
" _Why_ , Lip? _Why_ can't I like her?!" Ian mistakingly challenges.  
" _Because you're-!_ "  
But Lip knows to cut himself off.  
It's uncomfortably silent throughout the whole kitchen, everyone knowing that Lip was going to say something he wasn't supposed to.  
And Ian knows just what it was.  
"Don't say _another_ fucking word, Lip" Ian practically growls.   
" _Jesus,_ calm the fuck _down_ " Lip demands boldly, stomping over to Liam and Fiona.  
"What do you need help with?" He asks distractedly.   
Fiona quietly tells him what and where, pointing to the problem on the page.  
Lip casually explains to Fiona what she did wrong as Ian stares enviously, before the oldest brother adds, "Oh by the way, I gotta take the long way to school."  
" _Why?"_ Fiona asks, all while trying to complete the problem with the correct steps he gave her.

" _Tell Lip I will kill him!_ " A now eye patch wearing Karen shrieks from the top of the stair case again, throwing the same rake that caused her injury in Fiona's direction, who stands downstairs next to a high strung Sheila, a confused Liam in her arms.   
She shrieks, jumping when the rake lands just a few feet away from her on the carpet.  
"He didn't _mean_ to...!" She tries to defend.  
" _Whatever_ " Karen spits, spinning around and stomping away into the hallway and into her room.  
"Karen honey! Come back! We can talk about this...!" Sheila's desperate, while Fiona's awkwardly staring over at her.  
"Well here he is!" She fake beams, setting her infant brother in Sheila's arms.   
"Try not to let him out of your sight," she fake smiles through gritted teeth, referring to Karen who may or may not be heading to school.   
"Oh, of course!" Sheila proudly holds the boy up, grinning at him profoundly.  
"Thank you so much for this Sheila. Lip-well, not Lip-" her eyes darken at the thought-"One of us will be back after school to get him!"  
"Of course! Bye sweetie!"  
Fiona waves all the way out the door, stepping down the porch and approaching Ian, Carl and Debbie who wait for her to finish dropping him off every weekday morning.  
Before she can open her mouth, they hear Karen yelling and shrieking on the second household floor, glass shattering instantly afterwards.   
Ian shows confusion and discomfort, while Carl and Debbie look plain terrified.  
"Oh well kids let's go...!  
Speedily dragging the three kids all the way out of their God forsaken neighborhood, she curses out Karen Jackson under her breath.

Like he's been doing for more than half of the morning, a depressed and silently suffering Mickey Milkovich dreadfully stares at the fat lip his father gave him just the night before, within the bathroom mirror. The viciously teared apart bits of ROTC papers now lay helplessly in the backpack he rarely ever uses, for future reference.   
He's ready for school physically-hair and teeth brushed with his hair decently combed and a fresh pair of clothes on his back-but most certainly not mentally or emotionally.   
The only reason he might as well even bother to go, is a three letter name that starts with an I and ends with a N.  
Though he still fears what that certain name will think of his appearance, specifically the shiner on his face. Will he think he's tough for receiving it? Or weak? Will he think he's not qualified for ROTC anymore, which he'll have to _wait_ to sign up for _again?_  
What _will_ Ian think, what is Ian thinking right _now?_ Well Mickey surely knows what _he's_ thinking. That this whole thing is complete _bullshit._  
His swift punch to the glass mirror causes him to groan, biting on his bottom lip while holding his now bloody and glass implanted fist in the other.   
He studies the cracks he's caused throughout the entirety the glass, eyes making contact with his disoriented reflection.  
Not only is the mirror reflecting on the outside, but how he feels on the inside.  
He's not proud of it.  
"You coming or what?" Iggy asks, stepping into the room unannounced in which Mickey jumps at the sound of his voice.   
" _Jesus,_ " he grumbles, forcefully tearing the pieces of glass out of his knuckles and tossing them to the floor.  
"Knock first, _will_ ya?" He orders, icily turning to him.  
"What'd you do to the mirror?" Iggy's confused.  
"I don't have to tell you what I don't wanna tell you. Alright?" Mick's jaw is clenched to no end.  
" _Christ._ Calm down, will ya?" Iggy's growing sick of his attitude.  
Releasing a worried sigh, Mickey turns back to his cracked reflection in the mirror.  
"He's gonna think I'm such a _freak_ " he whispers in reference to Ian, finger gilding over the cuts on both his lips and around his mouth.  
"Who?"   
"Why are you still _standing_  here? _Go._ I'll be out in a minute." Mick snaps in response to Iggy's curiosity.  
"Fine. Whatever, princess."  
When Iggy's left without even closing the door, Mickey's contemplating on whether he should smash his entire head into the already broken mirror next.

Mickey's morning turns from angsty to angsty and weird, when he sees Lip huffing and puffing through the back doors of the eighth grade hallway, just minutes before first period.  
"Dude what's up with that outfit..." He's not sure he even wants to know.  
" _Karen,_ " he can barely get the pant out. "Had to take the long way. Down low. Rake in her eye. Accident."  
The story of few words brings a grin to Mick's face. "Oh my _God_ " he laughs, almost bursting into hysterics.  
"You-you gotta protect me, okay?!" Lip swipes off his shades. "If she ends up coming in today then you _have_ to be my armor." He declares to Mick.  
"What, you want me to turn the girl into a fuckin' pulp?" Mickey frowns at the thought.  
"If that same girl is trying to turn _me_ into a pulp, then _yes!"_  
Mickey laughs harder this time. "Okay, okay, fine." He begins to carelessly look around, his smile dropping instantly and knees almost doing the same, when sees Ian goddamn Gallagher in fucking white collared shirt and goddamn skinny jeans.  
Lip notices his mesmerized response, having to wait several seconds for a now dry mouthed Mickey to actually speak.  
Throat clearing on instinct, Mickey's brighter than ever face turns back to the boy on the down low.  
"Uh, your brother--he-looks fancy."  
Fancy. _That's_ the word to use. It's the truth that's still a compliment that's not gay sounding. Perfect. Now _that's_ the word that Mickey really wants to use.  
His eyes practically go back to Ian standing alone with no control, having to swallow back the drool that wanted to make its way out of his mouth and drip down his chin.  
"Yeah. Pretty sure he's only wearing that to impress your sister."   
The switch of giddiness and butterflies in Mickey's brain-that he never even knew could be _possible_ -turns right off.  
" _What?"_ He's now sweating with anxiety, turning back towards Lip.  
"Yeah," his eyes roll. "But it'll pass. _Trust_ me. Besides-you _totally_ want her with me rather than him, right?" He jokes around, thinking Mick wants the exact opposite.  
"No. I'd _much_ rather have her with you than Ian." He blabs. _Ian Ian Ian._  
"Really?" Lip's intrigued. "Wow, thanks man."  
"That doesn't mean I still won't fuck you up if you do something wrong" he threatens, eyes turning dark and Lip's turning terrified.  
"Got it..."  
"So, you're really sure that Ian wouldn't mind Mandy picking you over him?"  
"Eh, he'll get over it. Trust me on that."  
"Okay, g-good..." Mickey's relieved to hear such things.  
"What happened to your lip?"  
"Well, Lip, if you must know-" they both laugh. "Accident. Brother pushed me." He fibs, stomach unsettling at the thought of what really happened.   
Lip's too distracted staring into space to even comprehend the answer.  
"You sure she would pick me though?" He turns doubtful from what he's seeing.  
"Yeah, why?" He knows for sure that Lip seems more Mandy's type rather than Ian.   
"Because she's walking over to Ian right now with a flirty look on her face..."  
" _What?"_ Mick repeats, this time more high strung.  
And this time, when he looks over, that's exactly what he witnesses.

First period has passed by, and neither Lip or Mickey can't believe what they've heard.  
"I can't _believe_ it...They're going out this weekend..." Lip repeats, he and Mick absentmindedly walking down the hallway together.  
"Don't _remind_ me," Mickey rolls his eyes.  
"What's _your_ problem with it?" Lip asks.  
Mickey's heart almost stops beating. "I just..." They stop walking. " _I_ just don't want Mandy getting her heart broken, okay?!" He's saying the reason that's most certainly not the main reason.  
"I wouldn't worry. Ian's pretty-"   
Lip cuts himself off, the damned realization crashing upon him.  
 _Gay._ Ian's pretty _gay._ He may be in denial about it _now,_ but eventually, he _will_ realize, and Mandy's heart _will_  end up broken.  
In hindsight, Lip _could_ and probably _will_ swoop in to help her healing heart, but where does that leave _Ian?_  
He then puts the rest of the pieces together. If Mickey doesn't want Mandy 'getting her heart broken', why would he say he'd rather have her dating Lip than Ian? Shouldn't he not want her dating _any guy?_  
He only has a problem with her dating Ian, because he's gay too...  
" _Lip._ Are you fucking listening?" The same boy snaps Lip away from the puzzle in his brain.   
"Y-yeah. Yeah?" He blinks tiredly.  
" _What_ are we gonna do. _You_ want Mandy and I--- _I'll_ beat your brother if he lets something happen to her." He trips on his words.  
"We _gotta_ get them away from each other." He finishes.  
But if Lip's theory is correct, then in the end, everything should end up working out perfectly.  
Mandy, who'll have gotten over her heartbreak, will go to him, and Ian, who'll have realized he's gay, will go to Mickey, who so obviously has obvious feelings for him.   
"Uh, Mick? I feel like we should just let things take its course."  
"What? _Bullshit."_ He's not having it.  
"Mickey! Don't hurt anyone...!" He yells, helplessly watching him stomp off into the distance.

" _You can't date Ian."_ He asserts to her, standing in the middle of the seventh grade hallway where she scowls in fury.  
"Mickey fuck off I can do whatever the fuck I want."  
"Hey Mandy..." Ian shows up at the not so perfect timing, approaching her slowly and the light from his eyes dimming once he spots Mickey.  
"Uh-h-hi. You're not gonna like, kill me are you...?" He worries.  
But Mickey's mind is in other places. Ian is standing there in his gorgeous outfit. Less than five feet away from him. He's so dazed that he cannot speak for the life of him.  
He wants to threaten him. He _wants_ to hate Ian with every fiber in his human body. But he _can't_. In fact, he feels the exact _opposite_ of hatred towards him. He _likes_ him. He _really_ likes him and he can't admit that to _anyone_ but himself.   
"I have to go..." Are the only words he finds himself choking out.   
Ian's eyebrows raise. "Are you okay?" His question brings color to Mickey's cheeks, who spins around and is now helplessly running.  
"Where are you _going?_!" Mandy yells out irritability, rolling her eyes and looking back at Ian with a forced smile.  
"Is he okay?" Ian asks.  
"Yeah." She steps over and kisses his cheek. "He's just acting weird."  
Not exactly knowing how to feel, the gingered boy forces a chuckle.  
"What happened to his lip?"   
"Brother's." She claims. "It-it's fine. Now come on." She takes his sweaty hand to lead him to his next class.  
"Uh, is he still gonna join ROTC?" He hopes so.  
"Nah. H-he decided not to. He lost his papers." She claims, rather be eating glass than talking about her home life.  
Ian's disappointed and unknowingly sexually confused mind anxiously twists and turns all the way to class, and all the way _throughout_ class.

In the beginning of Lip's second class, Joey appearing behind him and scaring the shit out of him wasn't exactly the way he planned to prepare for the start of Ms. Bowman's lecture.   
"What the _hell? Jake?"_ He cringes at the figure peaking behind his desk.  
"It's _Joey."_  
" _Why_ are you here." They speak in whispers, just as the teacher starts presenting.  
"Your sister works after work, right?"  
"Yeah, so what?" He frowns.  
"Where."  
"I'm not letting you _stalk Fiona,_ freak."  
Joey's eyes roam to Lip's desk, swiping up the essay he had to stay up past midnight to finish.  
" _Tell me or you won't get this back._ " He's about to rip it in half.  
" _Moe's food truck in the arboretum up near the Lowe's...!"_ Lip helplessly whispers, taking the stapled papers back.  
"All I needed to hear."  
" _Excuse me._ " Ms. Bowman finally notices them.  
"Are you in this class?" She interrogates Joey.  
"Later." He scurries his way out, leaving Lip to furiously roll his eyes.  
For extra protection, he makes sure to hand in his essay early.

At lunch, Lip is ranting about the moment to Mickey as they walk through the cafeteria together.  
"It's _weird,_ man. How did he even _know_ what class I had?"  
"Eh, don't be so surprised at his effort." Mickey responds. "When Joey wants something, he _gets_ it. Like one time, he held a gun up to a cashier's head just so he could shoplift two boxes of brownies." He relives the moment.   
"He didn't even rob the store or anything?"  
"No, he just wanted the brownies..." They're now looking around for a place to sit.  
"Well who knows what he's gonna try with Fiona," Lip laughs quietly.  
"Ugh, I _know,_ " Mick doesn't even want to think about it. "He's such a _spazz."_   
"Hey guys," Ian's walking over to them with papers in one hand and Sprite in another, his presence causing Mickey to almost trip over himself.  
"Shit" Lip whispers with raised eyebrows, having to fully pull him back up to his feet.  
"I can handle myself" Mickey's too busy snapping at him to notice Ian walking up right in front of him.  
The poor kid looks petrified when looking back in the previous direction, and unexpectedly right into Ian's eyes.  
His whole body tenses up and starts to pour out sweat like never before.  
"Hi..."  
Lip almost scoffs.   
"Uh, Mandy told me that you're not signing up for ROTC."  
Mickey's first instinct is to force an uncomfortable laugh, which Lip witnesses with amusement.  
"Uh-uh-I don't know m-maybe..." Holy shit Mickey's never realized how bad he has it for this damn kid.  
Maybe he shouldn't take ROTC if he's going to be this _distracted_. He doesn't need himself getting _physically injured_ over some silly _crush._ Because that's _all_ this is. A _crush_.   
A goddamn fucking crush that's going to leave him on his _death bed._  
"Well, Mandy told me that you lost your papers, so...Here." He hands them forward.   
Mickey's eyes almost pop out of his head.  
Ian Gallagher...Wants Mickey to join ROTC _so_ passionately, that he's offering him _papers_ to help re-sign up with after he heard that he 'lost' his previous ones.  
Ian Gallagher. God, even his _name_ is perfect! Ian Gallagher. Ian Gallagher. Each name _fucking suits_ the other.  
"Mickey?"  
"Yeah?" He blinks, staring back in a daze. _Fuck,_ his eyes.  
"Here."  
Blinking rapidly, it takes him more than a few seconds to just get out one word. "Thanks..." He awkwardly takes them from him.  
Ian's smile is fucking contagious.  
Lip, being the smartass and somewhat jackass he is, wants so badly say something about Mickey's obvious state of mind and mesmerized facial expression.  
When he sees Mandy walking around with a tray of crappy food from thirty feet away, he seizes the spotting as an opportunity.  
"Uh I'll be right back." He tells the two who stand in silence.  
Hearing that, Mickey might as well form into a ball on the goddamn floor.  
"W-what?" He's sweating intensely again. What if Ian can smell his odor? _God_ , he needs to shoplift some cologne.  
"I-I-I'll be right back!" Lip's high pitched turned tone doesn't see it as a big deal, but still knows that Mickey does.   
" _Lip-!_ "  
But there he goes scurrying off to Mandy. "Yo Mandy!"  
Ian frowns at the sight, Mickey insecurely noticing his reaction.  
"Uh so do you like my sister...?"   
What a stupid question to ask. But maybe the more he asks, he'll get the answer he truly wants to hear.  
But that doesn't happen.  
"Yeah! I mean, if that's okay with you..." Ian turns cautious again.  
' _No_ , I'm _not!_ But that's only because _I_ like you, and I want _you_ to like _me!_ ' Mickey wants to scream ever so loudly in his face.   
But he knows he can't.  
"Yeah, I-I don't care." He's lying through his teeth. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"  
Ian blushes, in which Mickey's cheeks flush as well.  
"Gotcha."  
"Whatcha need?" Mandy's flattered that Lip's talking to her, thirty feet away from the other two.  
"Uh, it's about Ian..." Though trying to keep serious, it's hard not to get lost in her eyes.  
"What about Ian?" She smiles and straightens her posture, expecting good news.  
"You can't tell anyone, okay?" He lowers his voice, causing her brow to furrow.   
"What..."  
"I think he's gay."  
At that revelation, she frowns. "That's not _possible_ , Lip." She scoffs in denial.  
"I'm his brother, Mandy. I notice stuff."  
That only angers her further, a gawk dropping from her mouth. "You _really_ think that?"  
"Not just about Ian..." Lip motions back to no one other than Mickey, awkwardly chucking at Ian with a goofy smile on his face.  
Mandy almost laughs. " _Mickey?_ Are you _nuts?_ Lip I know my brother."  
"And _I_ know _my_ brother."   
"Your _brother_ _likes_ me!" Mandy tries to stay quiet.  
"So you're just gonna let the boy-that your brother obviously likes to no end-lead you on until he realizes what's _true?_ " Lip makes a point.   
Astounded and unsure of what to say, Mandy says nothing.  
"Do you want to sit with me?" Ian asks to Mick.  
He has to clutch onto the papers.   
" _Me?_ " He can't believe it.   
"Yeah," Ian giggles, and Mickey will voluntarily drop onto the floor right now.   
"Um, y- _yeah_....! Cool." He never knew a smile on his face so big was possible.  
What can he say? Ian Gallagher just brings it out of him.  
Turns out Mickey's smiles are contagious too.  
"Okay. Let's go."  
So they sit. Specifically, next to each other, in which Mickey feels like he's going to faint again.   
"A-are you gonna have that S-Sprite...?"  
He really needs to get ahold of the stuttering.  
"You're _lying,_ Lip." Mandy retorts to him about Ian being gay.  
"You're just _saying_ that Ian's gay because you're _jealous_. Get _over_ it!" She screams the end of her sentence, giving him a fresh slap on the face that everyone around them notices, furiously stomping out of the room.  
"What the hell?" Both Ian and Mickey ask in response.  
Meanwhile, Lip walks over to their table and sits across from Ian, trying to act like that nothing happened and that there's _not_ a noticeable red mark on his cheek.  
He picks up the now open Sprite can and takes a long hard sip.  
" _What'd_ _you_ _say_ to my sister." Mickey leans over with his fists squeezing the table.  
 _'That you're_ _both_ _gay_ _as_ _all_ _fuck_.'   
"Uhhh...She's just being dramatic..."  
" _Lip."_ Mick grunts in fury.  
" _You!"_ A male voice screams, running up to their table, and specifically Mickey.  
"Oh my God, _stop_ being so obsessed with me!" Is Mickey's response to the same boy that was after him yesterday and is still trying to hunt him down.  
Ian can't help but chuckle at that, making Mickey's cheeks brighten when trying to be serious.  
"This _isn't_ over until-" with a swish of his elbow, the eighth grader is knocking down the Sprite all over Mickey's ROTC papers.  
"Are you _fucking_ kidding me?!" Mickey screams, picking up the can quickly and setting it back to the surface.  
Both Gallagher brothers tense up.  
"I-I'm _really_ sorry...!" The boy turns suddenly apologetic, making Lip chortle at the irony.  
"Get _out_ of here." Ian snaps.  
"Fucking _stupid_..." the guy whispers after moments of silence, knocking down the Sprite again and this time onto the floor.  
" _Asshole!"_ Mickey screams, watching him run away. He sighs in distress, looking back at his soda soaked papers.  
"I'm sorry Mick-"  
"It's fine," he sighs out in response to Lip. "I'll just get another set later."   
"Holy _shit.._." Says Lip, staring over at the cafeteria entrance in awe.  
"What..." Both Mickey and Ian follow his gaze.  
"Is that _Karen?"_ Ian asks at the sight of the same girl wearing a black eye patch over her injured eye.  
"She looks like a fucking _pirate._ " Mickey comments.   
Again, Ian laughs, and Mickey smiles, unable to believe that Ian thinks he's funny.  
"I gotta hide!" Lip exclaims, jumping out of his chair and crawling under the table.   
The remaining seated boys smile at each other, which has Mickey's heart doing backflips, and his stomach repeatedly dropping. In a good way. A really good way.  
"Is it safe to come out yet?" Lip asks from below, sticking out his hand.  
Annoyed that he ruined their moment, Mickey bends back his fingers.  
" _Owe_ _Mickey_ _stop!_ "  
Turns out he can never fail to make Ian laugh.   
Smirking down at Lip, Mickey enjoys every second of Ian's laughter.

He's back in the office again, just before next period in start.  
"Hey sweetheart," he greets the same woman behind the desk, his backpack in tow.  
"Back again, Mr. Milkovich?"  
"Yessiree." He walks up to the desk, zipping open the bag.  
"I need more ROTC forms. There was an incident with my last bunch."   
"And what would that incident be?"  
He pours out the bits and pieces of ripped paper all over the desk for her eyes to witness.  
"I see..." She sighs after saying so.   
"Here." She takes another bunch out of the drawer, carefully handing them over.  
"I don't know how your last ones got like... _That,"_ she looks down at the shreds.  
"But make sure that it doesn't happen again."  
"No problem," he points at her. "Thanks sugar."  
She rolls her eyes at him, who's now on his way out.  
She glares down at the mess she left him.   
"This _damn kid_."

The end of the day rolls around, and Ian's sitting next to Mickey on the hallway bench, watching him fill out the ROTC forms.  
This puts some pressure on Mickey, heart bouncing around in his chest and arm having trouble keeping steady, causing his handwriting he's already trying to keep neat for Ian to zig zag.  
He's never sat this close to him, and he feels like he just might implode.  
"You have nice handwriting." Ian compliments.  
Mickey wants to laugh and cry at the same time.  
"R-really?" He stops writing abruptly but holds the pen down on the paper, leaving a blotch of ink to form in the middle of his sentence.  
"Yeah."  
"Thanks..." Mickey grins over at him, and Ian casually nods.  
"Uh-uh I-I like your outfit..." he has to get it out.  
"Thanks," Ian smirks smirks with appreciation.  
Mick has to swallow his drool, and force his smile away. He's acting like such an _idiot_ around him while _Ian's_ just trying to be his _friend_.  
Lip's trying to walk down that same hallway with a peace of mind, that state being interrupted when Karen shows up.  
" _LIP!_ "  
He screams and turns around, seeing her fuming from ten feet away. The rest of the hallway takes notice, Mickey and Ian wanting to see how things go down.  
" _PLEASE_ _DON'T_ _HURT_ _ME_! _I'M_ _JUST_ _A_ _BOY!"_ Lip begs to her.  
Ian tries not to snicker, Mickey noticing and smiling over at him.  
"Watch your _back_ , Lip Gallagher. Because I _will._ Get revenge." She cryptically declares, squinting into his petrified eyes.  
She turns around, and happens to walk past Mandy who's snickering up a storm.  
"What are _you_ laughing at, bitch." Karen glares at her.  
"Shouldn't you be walking the plank?"  
Everyone else in the hall laughs, including Ian, which Mickey can't seem to get enough of.  
" _Fuck_ _off_." Karen shoves her while walking by. Everything and everyone else resumes once she's gone, as if nothing even happened.  
Mandy goes back to walking over to Ian, his heart tensing at the sight.  
"Hey Ian."  
"H-hey..." he smiles at her. As much as Mickey thinks it's adorable seeing him like that, he cringes at the fact that he's acting like that towards his _sister_ and not _him_.  
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"   
"Yeah," he grins, Mickey fuming and glooming at the same time.  
Standing up, he looks at Mickey who nervously twitches at the eye contact.  
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Ian holds up his hand for a high five.  
Mick smiles. "Yeah." He does as wanted, his heart sinking at the contact.  
Their fucking hands touched.   
Mandy watches uncomfortably, having no idea how to feel.  
She and Ian walk off together, leaving Mickey having something to grimace at. He stares back down at the paper he was in the middle of filling out, loudly cursing at the grown ink blotch.  
Lip, who witnessed that whole thing, has a feeling he knows what Mandy and Ian are going to 'talk about.'

"Listen..." she disappointedly starts, Ian's eyes darkening at her tone.  
They walked to an empty hallway where they know they'll receive some privacy.  
"I-is this about what Lip told you...?" He begins to sweat.  
"Yeah. But I want you to listen. It's _okay._ " She grabs his shoulder sympathetically.  
" _What's_ okay..."  
"If you need me to pretend to be your girlfriend, then I'm _totally_ fine with that."  
"' _Pretend'?"_ He asks, frowning and stepping away from her touch.  
"Lip thinks you're gay. And I thought he was just saying that at first because he was jealous of us. But, if you are...Then it's okay."   
Ian's cringing with blind fury. "He's wrong. I'm not _gay_ , Mandy."  
" _Okay,_ you don't have to get all _rude_ about it." She grows defensive.  
"I _like_ you, Mandy. A lot."  
"Ian-"  
He interrupts her speech with a kiss to her lips.   
Astonished and guiltily awkward, she stares at him with blushed cheeks and sad eyes.  
"I think I should go..."   
" _Mandy_ -"  
"I'm sorry..." she apologizes, running away before he can go after her.   
"Let's go" she pulls Mickey, who's almost done filling out his papers up from the bench.   
"What?" He frowns.  
"Just _come_ _on!_ " She drags him out of the nearest exit.  
Knowing the situation that's taking place, Lip sighs at the sight of them hastily leaving.  
He knows Mandy basically confessed to Ian what she was told at lunch. And he knows he'll get over it, and will eventually come to his senses and realizations.  
But what he _doesn't_ know, is just how angry Ian is at him right now.  
" _LIP!!!_ "  
" _Oh_ _shit_!" He automatically takes off sprinting on instinct.  
Let's just say this time it's not Karen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for you if you made it to the end! Thank you thank thank you! Make sure to tell me what you thought!  
> ~Christina


	4. So Your Family Knows You're Gay...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian and Mickey are both confronted about their gayness. Liam says his first word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! <3  
> Spoiler alert this chapter is gay

"What the hell Mandy?" Mickey asks her on their way back inside their house, the three other brothers all by their side.  
"I was gonna turn in the forms back to the office when I was finished filling them out." He obnoxiously waves them in her face, making her scowl and push them back.  
"What guy is after you _now?_ " Jaimie accuses after the door's been closed.  
"None of your _business_ , Iggy."  
"I'll get the machete," Joey announces, sticking up his finger and stepping past all of them.  
"No, no." Mandy cringes, not wanting Ian to get killed by her brothers' tomorrow when he's trying to do is talk to her at school.  
"They're not after me in a 'I wanna _rape_ you' kinda way. They're after me in a 'I wanna be your _boyfriend'_ kinda way" she explains.  
" _Gross_ ," Joey cringes, and she rolls her eyes.  
Mickey's mind and body is slowly turning into a state of anxiety, putting two and two together about who this guy could be.  
"Is it Ian?" He blurts, face flushing at the simple vocalization of his name.  
"Yeah..." Mandy turns guilty, because of the psychological denial she knows he's in.  
"I thought you _liked_ him." Mick snaps.  
"Things have changed, okay? I don't have to _tell_ you guys everything." She's already tired of this, tone full of distress and expression begging for things to be over with.  
"Did Lip tell you something at lunch that made you not like him anymore?" He pries.  
"I don't wanna talk about it, _okay?"_  
Knowing she'll have to end this herself, she tentatively stomps back into her own room for once-that might as well be abandoned, slamming the door for a big finish.  
Altogether, the brothers awkwardly stand in their same places.  
Did Mandy just _break things off_ with Ian? Does this mean he can swoop in and comfort him? But why the _hell_ would she end things. She _really_ liked him.  
And vice versa.  
That vice versa makes Mickey want to punch his own bedroom wall, not that he hasn't before.  
He just might do it again tonight, absolutely hating the fact with every fiber in his body and all of his being, that Ian's fallen for the wrong Milkovich.  
He won't be worrying for too long, though.  
Because that'll soon change. Change for good.  
"What's up with you, now?" Jaimie notices.  
"I'm fine."  
In that moment, Mickey makes the declaration to himself, that crushes fucking _suck._  
If only he could be wrong.

Meanwhile, while Mickey doesn't know what Lip told Mandy in the cafeteria, Ian _does_ know, and is _not_ happy about it.  
" _COME ON, LIP! GIVE IT UP!"_ He now chases his older brother down the right sided sidewalk of their street, coming up past Sheila's house.  
"You can't chase me forever!" Lip declares, hopping up onto Sheila's porch and banging on the door.  
" _Mrs. Jackson Mrs. Jackson Mrs. Jackson!"_  
Sheila can't get to the door fast enough, because Ian's already attacking him and wrestling Lip to the ground.  
Sheila slowly opens her door, to the boys awkwardly and mediocrely wrestling on her very own porch.  
" _You_ get off!"  
"No _you_ get off!" They're both pinning each other down and struggling to break free.  
"Boys...?"  
Their movements stop at once, the both of them slowly gazing up at her face.  
"Hi Mrs. Jackson..." They speak at once.  
"What is going on..." she opens the door only slightly.  
"Uhhhhh...Is Liam here?" Lip uncomfortably brings up.  
"Yes...You're going to have to take your shoes off...."  
So, the boys get off of each other and sit up, angrily doing as requested while undeniably sneaking dirty glances at one another.

This doesn't stop Ian from still trying to kill Lip back in the comfort of their own home.  
They chase each other around the kitchen counter, and all around the room itself, doing their best to not let each other break away.  
Liam entertainingly watches this sight from the view of his high chair.  
Fiona, who they left behind while caught up in all the madness, walks inside with Debbie and Carl by her side.  
"Hey! _Hey!"_ She yells, quickly noticing Liam and running towards the two troublemakers.  
" _What_ is going on, _stop!"_ She separates them by a grab of their shirts, standing them as far apart as her arms will let her.  
"Lip made Mandy break up with me!" Ian yells, forcing away her grip and stomping forward.  
"Oh you are _so_ exaggerating! You were never even _together!"_ Lip yells, while Fiona cringes and Debbie rolls her eyes.  
" _This_ again?"  
"Kids, I'll meet you upstairs in a minute. Let me be with Ian and Lip alone so they can _stop being so childish."_ She glares at the two older boys who are acting less mature than they're younger siblings right now.  
The five and six year olds do as told, following each other up the staircase to color as they please.  
"This has _got_ to stop between you two." Fiona declares, finally letting Lip go. He walks up next to Ian with a quick sigh.  
"Out of _all_ things you could be feuding about, it's some _girl?_ "  
"She's not just _some girl."_ They say together, and Fiona grows a sudden headache.  
"Of for the _love_ of-!"  
"Why'd you lie to her at lunch, Lip?! Huh?! Tell me!" Ian interrupts, scowl aimed towards his brother.  
"Because it's the _fucking truth, that's_ why!" Lip defends.  
"It _is not!"_

 _"What_ did you tell her?!" Fiona's high strung.  
"You wanna know so badly, Fiona?!" Lip's had enough.  
"Yes!" She thinks he can take it.

 _"Don't_ fucking say it, Lip!" Ian knows exactly what's about to be said.

"That you're _gay!_ _Okay?!_ I _told_ her. That you're _gay_." Lip purposely glares at Ian his entire time of speaking.  
Debbie and Carl can hear the silence all the way from upstairs. Liam can get the feeling that something's wrong by the uncomfortable stiffness throughout the room.  
The intensity is stuck in the air, the three standing Gallagher's continuing their dead silence, until Fiona looks down at the tiled floor to let out a sigh.  
"Fuck _you_ , Lip." Ian finally whispers to him.  
" _Ian_ -"  
"No _don't_. Fiona..." He looks at his sister staring down at the floor and wiping her tears.  
"Look what you _did_!" Ian screams to him. "I _hate_ you!"  
"She _knows_ , Ian!"  
"There's nothing _to_ know! Jesus, _tell him_ Fiona!" He meets her eyes which emotionally stare into his.  
"Ian, you know we love you no matter wh-"  
"Oh, just _stop! Bullshit!"_ He accuses, flinging both his arms and stepping in front of them both.  
"Quit filling up your heads with fucking _lies._ "  
"Ian it's normal to be in denial at first-" she's just trying to comfort him-  
"Just _shut up, Fiona!"_  
His shrill tone and hateful words brings fire to her eyes.  
" _Excuse_ me?" She brings her hands to her hips.  
Lip watches cautiously, knowing right now not to say one word.  
"Just shut up..." Ian now whispers to both of them.  
"I gotta get back to school."  
"Are you coming home?" Fiona's cracking voice asks from the mouth that belongs to her own tear streamed face.  
Ian says nothing on his way out, and quietly cries the entire broken-hearted walk back over to his middle school.  
Back at the house, Debbie and Carl were peaking down the staircase and eavesdropping the entire time.  
Liam's still observing Fiona and Lip standing in the same spots they've been in for the past few minutes, shell shocked and neither of them saying a word to absolutely anyone.  
But that doesn't mean the youngest can't speak up.  
"Gay." He says his first word, everyone else's eyes in the house striking to him immediately.  
Fiona gasps.  
"Him too?" Carl asks, Lip and Fiona glaring up at him in the realization that he's there.  
Debbie hits his shoulder.  
"Gay." Liam repeats.  
Headache turning into a migraine, Fiona closes her eyes and looks down in the direction of the floor, rubbing her temples.  
Gay indeed.

Not too long after, at the Milkovich house, Mandy feels it's time that she and Mickey have the 'discussion.'  
"Hey..." She approaches inside the guys' room, witnessing him trying to get some sleep on one of the only two beds within, closing the door to block out the other boys' ramblings in the kitchen.  
"What..." he asks, eyes still closed and in the middle of daydreaming. His head rests against the bare mattress.  
"You got a second?" She purposely sits on top of his legs.  
"Yeah, when you get off me."  
She sits beside him, watching them sit up and groggily rub their eyes.  
"What..."  
Mandy would rather not do this while he's just waking up, but it has to be addressed.  
"Uh...Lip told me something at lunch. Something he's been...Noticing."  
"That they didn't have any fuckin' tater tots today?" Mickey's brain isn't fully awake yet, either.  
" _No._ " Mandy's already exasperated, eyes blinking.  
"I was a bit confused about it at first, and you might be too, but..."  
"Can you just fucking _say_ it?" Mick doesn't have the time for suspense.  
"He thinks you're gay, Mick."  
His body sits up and face turns flushed. Cringing in denial and making weird scoffing noises with his mouth, he's already sweating through his clothes.  
" _What?"_ He stands up with a forced tone of confusion, unable to keep away his nervous smile. He shakes his head and scratches the back of his neck.  
"If you are," she stands up with him. "You _know_ I don't care-"  
" _Mandy._ There's nothing _to_ care about" he turns serious. "Okay? _Don't_ worry about me. Please."  
"Well, _are_ you? Gay...?"  
He rolls his eyes at her. When he doesn't respond, she decides to continue.  
"Well that's why I ended things with Ian."  
"What does me may or may not being gay have anything to do with why you broke up with Ian..." He's sweating harder now, hands on his hips.  
"Because you like him."  
And because _he's_ gay too, but she'll leave Mickey the sweet element of surprise.  
At that he begins to laugh, in total denial and an anxious wreck.  
" _Gallagher?_ Ian fucking Gallagher with the _freckles_ and the-the--pale skin, and-and-" he starts stuttering, getting lost in the sweet torturous thought of him, and Mandy glares.  
"I don't have time for this." Her tone is flat.  
"He is _not_ my type. _No one_ like that is my type..." he claims, never knowing that guys like that could be his type.  
"Why you joining ROTC, then?" She grills.  
"Because I need shit to do."  
"Shit such as _Ian?_ " She might as well have some fun with this.  
Teeth and fists clenching, he fumes at her and she laughs.  
"Whatever, Mandy. Y-you're annoying as shit, and you don't know _anything_ about anything that's been going on." He accuses, causing her to snicker.  
"Okay," she knows she's getting to him. "Where are you going _now?_ " She asks, seeing he's making his way out of the room.  
"None of your business." He slams the door for emphasis.  
Now stomping through the living room, Joey calls out to him, ten feet behind from the kitchen.  
"Yo, you need anything from Moe's Food Truck? I'm heading there in a few."  
Now exiting the house entirely, Mick ignores him.

To prove the fact that he does _not_ in fact have a crush on Ian Gallagher, he heads back to and behind their middle school, over close by where ROTC is being held, to see Ian Gallagher.  
And so is continuous eye-patch wearing 'fucking pirate' looking Karen Jackson, still very intensely set on getting her 'revenge.'  
Mickey swears that each time he sees Ian in his uniform, those boots and that hat on his head, he's deprived of more oxygen.  
" _Shit..."_ He whispers, watching him and the rest of the group take discipline from their chief and commander, making sure to stand not too close by.  
He notices that Ian looks sad, washed up; maybe even a little broken.  
And right now that breaks him.  
He's gone to counting the freckles on his face, until Ian notices him standing twenty five feet away and is making eye contact.  
Mickey flinches when their eyes finally meet, knees weakening and heart falling into his stomach.  
Light returns not only into Ian's eyes, but into his face as well.  
'He looks happy to see me. That's _good,_ right? That's _good!_ ' Mickey encourages himself on.  
Too excited to think about what to do next, his right arm lifts into the air with little to no thought, signaling an awkward wave.  
Chuckling quietly and slightly smiling at the gesture, Ian returns a wave back.  
When he's gone back to focusing on what his commander is saying, Mickey breaks out into all smiles.  
Ian waved back at him. _Ian Gallagher,_ just waved back at him.  
And so, he waits until the army class is over, sitting behind the same tree he hid behind yesterday, with his arms impatiently crossed and his mind dribbling back and forth about what the hell he's going to say to him.  
"Mickey?" Speaking of him, he notices him hiding out, while on his way out.  
"Ah!" He jumps up to his feet, helplessly going back to counting his freckles again. Ian's eyebrows are raised, waiting for an explanation to why he was hiding there.  
"Oh h-hey Ian! What's up...?"  
"Nothing," he chuckles, able to admit that Mickey puts him in a good mood after all the crap that's happened today. "Were you waiting for me?" He curiously wonders.  
"What?" Mickey's eyes shrink and his face drains of any visible redness. "Uh-uh, kinda, b-but that's only because I wanted to see, uh, uh..." To him, his feelings could not be more painfully obvious.  
But somewhat thankfully and partially unfortunately, Ian's oblivious as all hell.  
"I wanted to see how you were doing, with the whole Mandy thing..." Is the first thing he comes up with.  
"Oh..." It shifts Ian's mood, which Mickey suddenly regrets. So far he's learned that seeing Ian sad and in distress isn't exactly his favorite thing.  
"Um, I'm confused, I guess." About everything. He is _confused_ about _everything._  
Mickey nods. He knows that one of the reasons to why Mandy ended things is because she knows her brother's _super fucking gay for him,_ but he doesn't need to know about _that_ part _just_ yet.  
"L-listen man. I talked her and she wanted you to know that...It's not you. It's her. It's _her_ and _her_ issues."  
Wanting any sort of physical contact, he grabs onto his shoulders. "You can move on, man. And you _will..."_ He doesn't dare take his eyes take away from his. His sweet, sweet eyes.  
Maybe if he stares hard enough then Ian will magically get over Mandy. Kiss him or something.  
But, "Thanks..." Is all he responds, smiling uncomfortably and tossing Mickey's hands away.  
He frowns at him. 'Fuck this guy.'  
He doesn't want to come off as rude, but Ian can't be participating in any gay like behavior. Half the town probably already thinks he's gay.  
And not to mention that he's still in total denial, actually liking the same sex contact.  
But is he going to admit that to himself?  
_Hell_ fucking no.  
"Hey, Ian." Another boy from the class approaches them, turning Ian's attention over to him.  
Mickey's already planning to pounce if this guy steps any closer. 'I wanna fuck this guy.' He thinks to himself while staring into Ian's profile.  
"Hey," Ian greets him casually.  
"See you on Monday alright?"  
"Yeah." They fist pump, and the boy walks away.  
"Who was that."  
"Oh, that's just Sam." Ian turns back to Mick, shoulders shrugging.  
"He's cool."  
"I'm _sure_ he is..." Mickey's jealously is on full display for everyone but oblivious little Ian.  
"So, did you fill out those new forms?" He decides to bring up.  
"Uh y-yeah! They are in my gun drawer." Mickey doesn't see why he had to mention that last part, but anything to make himself sound cool is a bonus.  
Either cool, or _totally insane._ That'll be up to Ian, and so far, he seems to think that it's quite nifty.  
He knows what kind of neighborhood they live in, and he'd understand much more if he knew their father.  
Which thankfully, right now, he does not.  
"Nice," he comments, and Mickey chuckles.  
"Well I hope to see you here!" His tone brightens. "And I should let you know-"  
" _Ian!"_ Karen interrupts his sentence, running up to him and touching his shoulders with her hands, that he does not push away.  
Mickey cringes, mouth offendedly dropped open.  
"Oh, uh, hi Karen..." He gazes into her one visible eye, confused and a little scared to why she's here, but also blushing at their closeness.  
She can see both Mickey's eyes roll with her one eye, and she discreetly glares at him.  
If she's going to make Lip jealous by doing what she's about to be doing, why not make Mickey go a little crazy too?  
"Uh, I had to stay late, and I was just wondering can you walk me home?" She twirls her hair, fake innocence flipping on.  
Mickey wants to slap the phoniness right off her eye patch wearing face.  
"Uh, sure..." he smiles, wanting to make Lip angry because of all the shit he's caused today, anyway.  
"I should join you guys." Mickey asserts, knowing Karen is still furious at Lip, and wanting to be there if Ian is almost _held in captivity_ or something.  
" _Don't_ you have somewhere else to be?" Karen asks him, flaring her evilness filled eyes.  
He fakes a petty smile.  
"Uh, you can-" Ian brings up, but Mickey makes up his mind despite how much he wants to be with him.  
"You know what, she's right. I gotta get back home." He keeps his tone blunt, arms angrily crossing. If Ian's going to spend time with some _bitch_ that's after his brother instead of him, then he's going to make sure he _knows_  he'll have to be without him.   
Mickey admits he's being quite childish, but a game of hard to get never hurt anyone, right?  
"Okay," Ian already seems disappointed, which means it's already working.  
"Well, we'll see you..."  
"Yup..." Mickey's waiting for them to leave.  
Not even ten feet away with Karen by his side, Ian's already running back to him.  
"And Mickey." He's intrigued.  
"Yeah?" Mick smiles, having a feeling that what's about to be said is going to be something good.  
Confirming that the hard to get game is already working. Even though he's all smiles again having no problem talking to him, but he's just gonna ignore that.  
"Can you tell your sister I'm not gay? Everyone seems to be thinking it and it's getting pretty crazy."  
Hearing those words coming from him, Mickey might as well just crack into a million pieces and he stomped on into a million _more_ tiny pieces.  
"Ummm okay, yeah..." everything's already falling down one by one like dominos, his face and body might as well be deflating.  
"Okay, uh, thanks..." Now scared that Mick thinks he's strange for what was just revealed, Ian and his torn up face get away from him as fast as possible.  
Too shocked to move and to sometimes even breathe, eventually, with everyone else walking past him and off the field, Mickey is now the only one standing there, all alone and by himself.  
And tragically enough, he can already feel the tears falling.  
Two days into this crush, and Ian Gallagher is already making him cry.  
Soon enough, that same boy will know exactly how the other one feels...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've made it to the end! Thank you! PLEASE. LEAVE. COMMENTS. Comments are what keep me going, no matter what you say!!!


	5. Receiving The Memo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian continues to be clueless about everything, while everyone but him is putting the pieces together about his major and obvious crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, this chapter is kinda long. I hope you can get something out of it none the less. Angsty!Mickey  
> ~C

Technically speaking, Mickey is not on his way home. Nor is he on his way to the household that lacks any sense of a 'home'.  
He's on his way around town. Specifically, he's sprinting around in circles in a part of town he's not even aware of, because the fury he's experiencing right now is so blind.  
Ian Gallagher _isn't_ gay?! This ruins _everything!_  
Just last week, Mickey _never_ thought he would be crushing on a straight guy, let alone _any guys at all!_ Or _anyone in general!_  
Mickey Milkovich, does _not_ have crushes.   
Or so he thought.   
Because oh _Jesus,_ does he have a crush on Ian Gallagher...  
Why wouldn't Mandy bring _up_ to him that Ian might be gay? He _said_ to tell her that he's _not,_ so is this this an _ongoing assumption?_ Did he really say that a _lot_ of people have been thinking that he _is gay?_  
That could be a good sign, right? Then again, just because a lot of people think something, doesn't mean that that something is true.  
If people _do_ think he's gay, does that include Lip? Why hasn't _he_ said anything? Does he think Mickey's gay too, which he _is?_  
He declares to get to the bottom of this. He just doesn't know how.   
So for now, he just decides to stomp around town yelling and screaming. Until he winds up at Moe's Food Truck in the parking lot of a close by shopping center, and spotting _Jo_ ey in line.  
Surprise of all surprises, _Fiona's_ the woman inside the truck taking and delivering orders.  
"Joey!" He yells, pushing people out of the way and making his way over to him towards the front of the line, meaning he's getting closer to public humiliation for the both of them.  
"Were you sent here to 'stop me'? Because that is _not_ going to work." Joey rolls his eyes at Mickey's tight grip on his wrist.   
"Joey. I'm pissed off. _Let's go._ " He practically growls to him.  
"What's up _your_ ass?"  
If only Mickey could express what he _wants_ up his ass.  
"You're not _serenading_ a girl who is _way_ out of your league and inside a _food truck."_  
" _Watch me!"_  
"Next in line, please?" Fiona's request brings them just a few spots away from her.  
"I'm doing this so you _don't_ commit social suicide. Or suicide in general." Mickey's now trying to pull him away.  
"Mickey, quit worrying about _my_ reputation, and go hang out with your boyfriend."  
Body shutting down and teeth clenching, Mickey throws away his grip.   
" _Excuse me?"_  
"Ya know, _what's_ his face. Freckles."  
In the boys hearing range who are only just ten feet from the truck she works in, Fiona stops handing her current customer their wrapped burrito midway.  
"He's _not_ my fucking boyfriend!" Mickey sputters, face going red. Being reminded that he isn't just turns him angrier.  
" _Jesus,_ man. I was joking."   
But Mickey wishes he didn't have to.  
With a tainted yelp, he's pouncing over and attacking his brother to the pavement.  
"Oh my God!" Fiona yells, dropping the burrito she still hasn't handed out which just furies the customer.  
The other customers surrounding the teens who repeatedly punch kick and scratch one another, all react in screams, yells and other astounded noises.  
"Take it _back!_ " Mickey might as well be choking him.  
" _Make me!_ " Joey croaks, managing to spit on his face.  
They're now rolling around on top of each liner in their own pool of sweat and blood.  
" _Security!"_ Fiona finally screams out.  
Joey screaming out for Fiona to call him-despite her not having his number or him not having a phone in general-while he and Mickey are being dragged away by police, doesn't give her the best impression.   
"I'll keep him away from you...!" Mickey screams out to her awkwardly.  
With a migraine implanted inside her light head, an emotionally overwhelmed and distressed Fiona Gallagher almost falls out of the truck.   
Her coworker who stood behind her doing nothing has to catch her.

Mickey and Joey are still arguing on their way inside the house.   
"This shit with Fiona Gallagher has got to _stop_ , Joey." Mick rants to him as he shuts the door. While Iggy and Jaimie are still making what they can in the kitchen, Mandy approaches from her room, with crossed arms at the sight.   
"Quit busting my _mojo_ , Mickey."   
The others tried to stop him from leaving the house to make a fool of himself, but it was no use.  
"You _have_ no mojo!" Mickey fires back.  
Overhearing the argument from the kitchen, Iggy and Jaimie snicker.  
Mandy, now five feet across from them, scoffs and shakes her head. She doesn't even want to _ask_ about their injuries presented almost everywhere with-on them.  
"How would _you_ feel if I did something like that to you in front of freckled kid, huh?!" Joe tests, and Mickey can't move from the amount of bodily shock.   
His mouth drops open with no words prepared, and Mandy grins from ear to ear. Eyebrows darting up, her eyes pierce over to her on the spot brother.  
Jaimie and Iggy get distracted by their tater tots finishing up in the microwave that barely works.  
Mickey grumbles at the noise. "You don't know shit, Joey! Go obsess over Fiona with your _sock_ or some shit and get away!!" He's fucking exhausted of his siblings figuring out his feelings one by one.   
Mandy grows serious, learning that he's actually turning fragile about this whole thing. Which he doesn't _need to._  
Before Joey can, Mickey runs into the room he's declaring his own right now, shouting loudly and letting a slam of the door join his band of noise.   
"Let me handle him..." Mandy says to Joey who's now giving her a look that's almost petrified.   
He hasn't been this worried about any one of his siblings since Mandy was going through her panic attack stage.  
"Is he-?"  
" _I'll handle him,"_ she doesn't want to say the truth yet, though she feels he already knows.   
Joey's heart is stiff and body disallowing to move, when watching Mandy walk into the room that is right now Mickey's very own.  
She's now behind the door with her overthinking and psychologically shaken older brother, leaving Joey not wanting to pry.  
He enters the kitchen in the middle of Iggy and Jaime's nonsense debate.  
"Dude what's wrong" Ig' interrogates, when a quiet but observant Joe snatches a piece of food from him.  
He doesn't respond.

"Mickey _what_ happened." Mandy's been staring at Mickey face down on top of his mattress for over a minute now.   
" _Go away!"_ He whines, kicking his legs towards her and quaking his arms around.   
"Did you go anywhere else _besides_ the food truck to confront Joey?" She knows he did and who he saw.  
"I went to see _Ian,_ okay?! _Jesus!_ " He screams, finally sitting up and exposing the redness stinging his face with the tears leaking from his eyes.   
"Ian who you _don't_ like?" Mandy flicks a brow.   
"Are you _blind, woman?!_ Of _course_ I fucking like him! He's _all_ I can think about! I'm only _signing up for ROTC_ to see him, and I've counted _all the freckles_ on his right cheek! _That's not normal,_ Mandy. But none of that matters because he's _straight!"_  
Mandy almost laughs. "Ian is _not_ straight, Mickey."   
"Well that's what he told _me_ to tell _you!_ " His voice now strains.  
"Because he _knows_ I'm _onto him,_ idiot." She finds his panic adorable. " _Lip's_ the one who told me in the first place."   
"Lip knows?" He sniffles.   
"Of _course_ he knows. His whole family's probably aware. Everyone _but_  Ian. _And_ you. He's just in denial, Mickey. _You're_ the one that has to make him realize things."  
"Well _how the fuck do I do that?!"_ Mickey shrieks, in full panic mode and heart on the verge of exploding. He can barely even _talk_ to Ian. _How_ the hell is he gonna make him realize he's _queer?!_ Wouldn't that have happened by now?   
"We'll figure it out, okay? Don't lose it..."  
There's a long pause where they both awkwardly break eye contact from one another, until she brings up "I'm just glad that you're not in denial."  
While he does look at her, he still has no idea what to say to that until he can actually strike up the words.   
"Thanks..." He knows there's no point in denying it. Hell, he never really _did_ deny it. He knew, and _yes_ it scared him, but he wasn't _refusing_ to believe it either. It just made him feel insecure to bring it up. Now, he has no choice _but_ to. When Mandy cornered him about it, he never said yes or no. It was his crush on _Ian_ that he was in denial about.   
Because who knew kids like _Ian Gallagher_ would be _his_ type?   
"So, you're gay?" She reveals a wise smirk.   
"Yup..." he shrugs his shoulders.   
Nothing he can do about that.  
After a long bland silence, they're both guffawing hysterically. in the midst of all the irony, shenanigans, and overall craziness, they ended up here.   
There's always going to be something to complain about, but there's _also_ always something to be happy about, and to laugh about.  
In this instance, Mickey being completely and utterly gay.  
"C'mere," Mickey's not afraid to go all 'soft' with Mandy. He feels that it's not only because is she the youngest, but because he's his little sister.   
No matter how 'grown up' or mature Mandy will try to act or claim to be, she's always going to be younger than him, and his little baby sister.  
His little baby sister who constantly dresses in provocative clothing, but everyone's different.   
" _No!_ " She finally finishes laughing though there's still a wide grin on her face, seeing his arms reaching out for her.  
"C'mon, give your faggot brother a hug!" He's allowing him to laugh at himself.   
"Mickey don't _say that!"_ She doesn't care if he's joking, or if he is technically allowed to joke about it.  
He may have to physically attack her to the end of the bed to get her to actually hug him-which she's not the happiest about at first-but the embrace is still worth it.  
"Okay now _get off me_ fuck face" he's gone back to forcefully lacking emotion, even though he's the one that's on top of her and dragged on the hug for almost a full thirty seconds.   
" _You're_ on top of _me!_ "   
The goofy smile he receives from stomps his cockiness right to the ground.   
From all the way in the kitchen, Joey smiles at the resumed laughter he hears from Mickey's temporarily own room, that might as well be Mandy's too.

While Mickey knows that there's surely nothing he can do about his sexuality, Ian, on the other hand, thinks that he can change his.  
More specifically, ignore his.  
"Hi, Mrs. Jackson..." He awkwardly greets Sheila inside her kitchen, with Karen's arm draped around him.  
"Mom, you remember Ian. Lip's brother..."    
"Yes, _yes!_ Hello, Ian." She rapidly shakes his hand leaving him to awkwardly chuckle.  
"Yup. Lip's brother." Karen chuckles bitterly at the thought of him, the boy sadly frowning over at her.  
"Well, we're gonna upstairs."  
"Do you kids want me to make you anything first? Drinks, something to-"  
"Oh, we're okay Mom." She flashes a smile, removing her arm from over Ian and taking his hand instead, ready to pull him away.  
"Uh-uh actually, I'm kinda hungry-" Ian must admit to himself that he's stalling.   
"Those muffins take a long time to make," Karen fakes a smile with a phony pleasant tone, squeezing his hand harder. A lump hits the back of his throat.  
"Oh, you want muffins? I can make you some!" Sheila beams, already rushing over to the stove.   
Ian releases a quiet sigh, just as Sheila's husband Eddie Jackson comes strolling through the door with a pair of shoes on his feet and metal box of tools in his hand. No one can greet him because he's too already noisily complaining about his day.  
"Come on come on" Karen hastily whispers, not wanting Eddie to see Ian and dragging him up the stairs so fast that his feet are barely moving.   
"Eddie, you're supposed to take your shoes off...!" They hear Sheila panic, just before Karen shuts the door to her room.  
Nervously looking around and studying her walls, Ian tries to clear away his lump. He looks back at her with anxious blinking eyes.  
"C'mere," she smirks, practically tackling him onto her bed.  
He doesn't like the adrenaline zipping through him, nor how fast this is suddenly turning, but is being roughly kissed before he can say anything.  
"Mm, Karen..." he can just barely talk.  
"It's fine, they're downstairs" she giggles into his ear, lips returning back to his.  
Not knowing exactly what to do, all he can do is weakly kiss back while she's the one over here who's practically trying to _swallow_ him.   
He grows more helpless when her tongue gets involved.   
He's nervously breathing through his nostrils, as her hands rub up his sides and run through his hair.  
"Um, Karen-" he gets out in breaths when she finally finally releases his mouth.  
"Want me to take the eyepatch off...?" She wonders. He says no.  
He has no idea what he's supposed to be _doing_. He knows he's kissing her, but he doesn't feel very _good_ at it. He's not enjoying this as much as she is.   
Is it because she's _older?_ He's scared of admitting that he's not comfortable with being with a girl in this kind of way.   
How is he _supposed_ to be responding to this? He feels so innocent, compared to her.   
Maybe it's because he knows she's been with her brother, or that this is simply a plot for revenge?  
All he knows is that he's not ready to be moving way too fast or so suddenly. Or maybe even at all. He's not that kind of guy. _Is_ he? Maybe not with _girls..._  
"I-I-I just don't wanna get caught..." he claims, showing a shy smile when on the inside he's terrified.  
"Don't worry," she glides her finger down his chest.  
"Just stay quiet." With a content smirk, she's unbuckling his pants.   
"Um-" he really really doesn't like where this is going.   
And just like that, his boxers are pulled and she's taking him in.  
A noise escapes from his mouth, but it's not a noise of pleasure. He doesn't think she's doing it right. But _is_ there a wrong way to do what she's currently doing...? He knows he doesn't like it, so maybe she should try something else. Ya know, to actually get him _hard._  
"Um, Karen..." He awkwardly touches her hair. That's what you're supposed to do, right?   
"Maybe we should try something else..."  
Instead of stopping like she really should, she keeps on going, which her Dad walks right in the middle of.  
"Karen honey I'm- _CHRIST ON A STICK!"_ It doesn't take him long to find out what is happening.   
" _Uh...!"_ Ian's face is terrified while gazing over at him, just while Karen takes away her mouth and franticly turns around.   
"Daddy don't-!"  
"I AM GOING! TO _KILL YOU!"_ Eddie shouts to Ian, who's just trying to pull his pants up.   
" _Dad-!"_ She's wiping her mouth, while he's chasing an unbuckled panted Ian around the room.  
Things are knocked off her desk and posters are torn off the walls as the two males sprint their way around the room, and Karen repeatedly shrieks from her bed.  
Ian just barely makes it out the bedroom window, Eddie sticking out his head with an intent for revenge, watching Ian yelp on his way to the pavement.  
Hearing that same yell from the second floor, Sheila furrows her brow and confusedly looks around.  
"Karen...?"   
Ian lands on the pavement below, with a definite sprain being sent to his bare right foot.  
" _Mm!"_ He painfully groans out, speedily waddling his way around the house and over to the porch for his shoes.  
" _THE MORE YOU RUN, THE MORE I CAN KILL YOU!"_ He doesn't take Eddie's echoing demands from the sky as a good sign, having no time to lace up the shoes he managed to get on.  
" _HE CAUGHT IAN..."_ He can hear Karen crying to Sheila from inside the house, before tenderly being offered a muffin.  
Due to all the limping, and his lack of tied shoes, the poor kid can only sprint home so fast.  
" _Whoa,_ Ian, what the fuck..." Lip asks, watching his limping brother jump into the house with red cheeks and wheezing breath.  
"I'm not here," he breathes out, locking the door behind him. "Okay?" He kicks off his shoes revealing the bruised purple foot that Lip cringes at. "I'm _not here."_  
"Oh my gosh!" Debbie exclaims, sitting next to Carl at the the table with her completed homework in front of her, while Carl's successfully cutting up his own with a pair of scissors.   
" _Gimme that_ " Lip groans to him, walking over snatching them away while trying to focus on Ian at the same time.  
"What the hell _happened?"_  
"Did you beat someone up?" Carl smiles at the thought, while Ian is currently dropping his shoes down the stairs while trying to limp up to his room as fast as he can.   
"ROTC!" Is all he screams out.  
"What's that?" Debbie asks.  
"We've talked about this Debbie; ROTC is army class...!" Are Ian's last words before closing the door to his room and disrupting Liam's nap.  
" _Ohhhh!"_ Debbie happily realizes, while Lip fumes up at the sound of Liam's cries.   
" _Ian!!!_ What the _fuck did you do?!"_ He screams up.   
Ian, trying his best to calm his wailing infant brother with a sprained foot to stand on, feels that it's best Lip doesn't _know '_ what he did.'   
Like, at all.

It's been two hours, and next door neighbor Veronica Fisher's only solution to Ian's sprained foot is a pack of ice.   
" _Seriously_ , Veronica?" He whines, laying on his own bed with the injured foot stuck out for show, a plastic bag of ice being held against it with his uncomfortably stretched left arm.  
"I thought you were a _nurse!_ " Lip brings up, standing with Carl and Debbie next to Liam's crib where the infant is watching everything.   
"Bed pans and shit sheets, boys. Bed pans and shit shits." She sternly reminds them.   
"It'll wear off in a few days." She quickly pecks his cheek. "Promise."  
"But ROTC!" He exclaims.  
"Well maybe if you weren't _taking_ the damn thing you wouldn't have gotten the injury in the first place!" She recalls the dishonest story he had told to everyone.  
He doesn't exactly want to tell them that he was jumping out of the Jackson's window because Eddie walked in on Lip's kind of sort of ex girlfriend trying to give Ian a blowjob.  
Rethinking everything over, he sighs miserably.

Poor poor Fiona doesn't think her day can't get any worse, before she spots Kev smoking a cigarette on his next door lawn.   
"Hey Kev," she walks over to him.   
"Hey Fi," he exhales his smoke and holds the cigarette down.   
"Where's Vee?"  
"At your place patching Ian up."  
" _What_ happened?"   
"Shit. Was I not supposed to say that...?" He comes to the realization.  
" _Shit!_ " She overwhelmingly cries, spinning around and spreading out her arms.  
"Something about a sprained ankle. Or something..." Kev can't recall the exact details.  
He watches her groan all the way over to her own lawn, and into her house.   
"Nice chat...!"  
" _Owe;_ _Jesus_ Veronica!" Ian yells to her in pain when she tries to 'adjust his foot herself.'   
Hearing the yell from down the hall, Fiona angrily stomps right through the doorway.  
"What the _hell_ happened?"  
Everyone else looks over at her at once.   
"Oh hey Fiona...!" Lip greets her first, just before Vee drops Ian's leg back onto the mattress.  
" _Owe!"_ He glares at her, this time.  
Carl snickers.

Away from everyone in Fiona's own room, she and Lip are folding the freshly clean clothes together ten feet away from one another throughout a long pregnant silence.  
Lip is folding his group of clothing on her bed, while Fiona is storing stacks away in the closet.  
"That poor kid," she breathes out, putting away a hanger.  
Lip doesn't have to ask who she's talking about.  
"How was your shift?" He sets down one folding on top of the other.  
The more he talks about the situation the gloomier he feels about it.  
" _Annoying_ ," she goes to rant, stepping around towards him. About to rant about the dick that kept yelling at her when she had accidentally dropped his burrito, she recalls the fight between Joey and Mickey within her head.  
Specifically, the dialogue before it.  
"Can I tell you something?"  
"You know you can." He's now focusing on more so their conversation than their responsibilities.  
"I don't think Joey is the only one in his family with a crush on a Gallagher..."  
Eyebrows plainly raising, he again doesn't have to ask who, rather wanting her to continue.  
"I think the younger one in your grade, Mickey, likes Ian..." She's expecting it to be this big bombshell for him.  
"Oh, yeah, Mickey totally likes Ian."  
" _What?"_ Fiona's surprised at his causality.  
"We hang out. I have eyes."  
"You think Ian knows?"   
"Right _now_ Ian thinks he can deny his sexuality until the end of time. Trust me. He's clueless."  
"Should we tell him?"  
"No _way,_ Fi, he'll just freak out even _more."_ Lip doesn't want to imagine the outcome.  
"How'd _you_ pick up on it?"  
"Joey _came_ to my work today--"  
"He threatened to rip my book report if I didn't tell you where that was..."  
" _Seriously?_ " Fiona gawks, eyes rolling at the thought but looking back at him to focus.  
"Mickey showed up, trying to get him out of there. Which I highly appreciated. Then Joey started saying something about Ian, calling him his boyfriend or something. He snapped, and a fight broke out. Got pulled away by security..."  
"Damn." Lip doesn't exactly know how to respond to that.  
"That's the thing, though. _Mickey?_ Liking _Ian?_ He's, he's violent..." She's not so sure about this.  
"So is Joey."  
"Yeah, but I would never _date_ Joey. You think _Ian_ would date _Mickey?_ "  
"If he actually _realized_ a thing or two, then yes. Mickey _already_ acts like mush around him while _barely_ his friend. God knows what he'd be like as a boyfriend."  
At the thought, Fiona chuckles. "How did we get so mixed up with this family in a matter of _three days? Joey_ with me, _Mickey_ with Ian, you and sidewalk girl..."  
"Parking lot girl. Her name is Mandy."  
"Right... _Jesus,_ I wonder what their parents are like..." Part of her doesn't want to imagine.   
"Better than _ours."_ Lip concludes.  
If only they knew that they weren't...  
A longer silence overpasses, until another question is exchanged.  
"You think the ROTC thing is a sham?" She brings up.  
"Oh totally. We'll find out what really happened sooner or later." Lip's still keeping it nonchalant.  
Until he doesn't like the anxiety ridden look he spots upon her face.  
"Hey...Fi." His whispers get her to look at him.  
"He's _gonna_ tell us, okay? _Soon_. About _everything..."_  
Those words only give her permission to start uncontrollably sobbing.  
Eavesdropping outside with eyes watching and ears listening through the small crack of the door that was never fully closed, Debbie can't help but cry a bit herself.

That same night, Joey is the next one to have 'the talk' with Mickey.  
"Hey..." he walks in on him trying to complete his homework.   
"Hey," he mutters, sitting up on one of the beds and staring down at the textbook he's actually trying to focus on.  
"Can we talk?" Joe cautiously stands against the wall.  
Hearing those familiar words, Mick suspiciously looks over at him. "You too...?"  
"Listen..." Making sure to shut the door, he walks over and sits down next to him.  
"I'm sorry about the fight we got into...At the food truck..." He watches Mick sit up and set his pencil down slowly.  
"It's fine...I started it..." Mickey doesn't want to know where he's going with this.   
"Those things I said, it was stupid..."  
He awkwardly twitches his lips, looking down the comforter in resentment. "Okay,"  
" _Mick._ "   
" _What._ " Joe is instinctively looked back at with icily but isolated eyes.   
"Do you like Ian...?"   
Just the sound of his name turns Mickey's eyes soft, face vulnerable and blushing in response to the question that might as well be his answer.   
"That's okay," Joe decides to speak because he knows Mickey won't, Mickey who's dipping down his head and burying his face.  
"It's _embarrassing..."_ Claims his muffled voice.  
"It is _not,_ " Joey touches his shoulder and has their eye contact resume, Mick's eyes more troubled than ever.   
"Not that I _do_  like him, it's how _much_ I like him..." Now he's sweating at the fear of rejection. From a _seventh grader._ Except that last part shouldn't matter, right? He still makes Mickey's heart fucking melt no matter _what_ middle grade he's in.  
"So, you really like him?" Joe's eyebrows raise with intention of making sure.  
"A _lot._ I don't know what the _fuck_ to do..." He's already humiliated about it again, face a darker shade of red and not liking how fast he can hear the beating of his heart.  
"Mandy says he's gay and just doesn't know it yet..." he mutters hesitantly, looking away again.  
"Then just crack him and make him realize."  
"That's the _problem;_ I _don't know how...!"_ Mick frazzles, his body lurching up when looking back over at him.  
" _Relax._ " Joe holds up his hand. "You're in luck. 'Cause I may not know much about girls...Obviously." He looks away with a pained face at the thought of Fiona.  
Mickey waits for him to finish. " _And...?"_ He frowns.  
"Right. Yeah." Joe looks back over, eyes trying to blink with causality.  
"But I _do_ know a lot about guys. Considering I _am_ one. And so are you, so..." He gestures his hand.  
" _So?_ " Asks Mickey. "That doesn't mean I _know how to talk to him._ I'm _screwed!"_ He throws up his arms in agony.   
"No you're _not_. 'Cause _I'm_ gonna help you tomorrow, alright?"  
" _Please_ don't..." Mickey's nauseous just thinking about it. Like he is about thinking of striking up a conversation with Ian in general.  
"I, I joined ROTC to be around him, alright? I don't _need_ your help."  
"You _joined_ ROTC to be around him?" Joe grins in disbelief.  
" _Signed up._ " Mick threateningly corrects, jaw noticeably clenching.  
He only grows more agitated when Joey starts to laugh.  
" _Quit laughing!"_  
"And I thought _my thing_ with _Fiona_ was bad," Joe finishes in a smile.  
"You _wish._ Just tell me how to get closer to him, alright?" He's growing impatient about this whole thing.   
"Don't worry. I'll be there with you at school tomorrow."  
Mickey crinkles his nose at the thought, knowing that _Mandy_ will already be there to embarrass him enough. "Fine...Um, can I request something else? Could you...Not tell Iggy or Jaime about this yet?"  
"Yeah, don't worry. They'll figure it out sooner or later anyway."  
"Thanks, and _especially_ not-"  
Speak of the devil, a hungover Terry Milkovich stumbles inside his house, almost tripping over his own feet and leaving the door open.  
Mandy, Iggy, and Jaimie sit on the living room couch, trying not to grow too uncomfortable at the sight of him.  
"Where the _fuck_ is everyone else..." he slurs, blocking their four by four mediocre working television the kids' are trying to watch.   
"They're busy..." Mandy tries to lack shaking within her voice.  
"The _fuck_ are _you two_ looking at?" He accuses to Iggy and Jaime, who hastily look away in intense fear.  
Groaning, he sluggishly makes his way away from the television set, and has to hold onto the doorknob of the guys' room for balance.  
Mickey and Joey keep still inside, waiting for the worst to happen. With each creak of the door as it opens, their hearts drop farther and farther down.   
"What are you doing...You're always up to something..." Terry croaks to them, still hanging onto the knob for support.   
"Nothing..." Joey answers shyly.  
With a loud grunt, Terry slams the door closed, passing out on the floor on the way over to his house room.  
When the brothers slowly return eye contact, they both sigh out relieved breaths at the same time.  
"So, you're really gonna take ROTC huh...?" Joe questions.   
Opening the bedside table drawer beside where he sits, Mick pulls out the filled out and 'parental guardian signed' forms from on top his pile of guns, confidently holding out for his brother to see.   
Exchanging smug smiles, the two share a high five.

That next Friday morning, Liam is getting into a habit of repeating his first word.   
"Gayyyyy. _Gayyyyy!"_ He happily squeals in his high chair, grinning and giggling at his family who sit and walk throughout the room.   
"Can you get him to stop _saying_ that?" Ian irritably asks, who stands against the right cornered wall with the crutch that Veronica managed to steal from the nursing home she works at, along with the foot cast he wears.  
"Why, Ian? He's just saying the truth." Lip glares at him from across the room, sitting at the table with Debs and Carl.  
"Enough, you two." Fiona's buttoning up her shirt for school.   
"Can one of you take him down to Sheila's early?" She requests.   
" _Gayyyy!_ " He yells out again.  
"Please," Ian gets a migraine.  
"Why?" Lip frowns.  
"Because, I gotta head to school early for test prep. It'd be better if he just got there now."  
"I'll take him-"  
" _No...!"_ Ian interrupts Lip's offer.  
"Ian, you can't carry him in your condition." Fi' instructs.  
"I know...That's why I was gonna say Debbie can do it."  
" _Me?_ " She doesn't like the sound of that.  
"Ian, I'm not letting a _six year-old girl_ walk up and down the street with her not even year old brother."  
"Then...I'll go with her..."  
He sweats and blinks at the suspicious looks they're all giving him.

Debbie finishes giving Liam back to Sheila, saying a happy goodbye to her and walking back onto the porch, where she has to put back on her Velcro shoes.  
"Is it clear...?" Ian sticks out his head from the bush in their next door garden that he was hiding behind.  
"Yeah. Why are you avoiding them, again...?"  
"I told you not to ask questions, Debbie." He gets up with the help of his crutch and walks close to her.   
A knock from one of the top glass windows brings a noise of anxiety from his mouth, eyes darting to so and seeing Karen giving him a large smile from the main window of her room, a.k.a the one that he _didn't_ jump out of.  
"I thought you were gay." Debbie notices her flirtatious wave.  
" _Let's go..._ " Ian replies tightly, sourly glaring down at the grass.  
Witnessing everything, Karen laughs from inside.

For the first time in a long time, Terry Milkovich is neither drunk _or_ hungover.  
He's completely and perfectly sober, which for the kids, is the worst state of them all.   
"What the _fuck_ do you kids think you're doing, get the _fuck the school!"_ He could easily set the record for how many times he makes each five of his kids jump at once.  
"We-we still got time, it's fine..." Iggy's uncomfortably trying to finish his eggs. Jaimie and Joey sitting beside him while Mickey and Mandy sit together across from them.   
"It's not _fuckin' fine to me, I said go!"_ The man demands, slamming his fists onto the wooden table.   
Mandy's already quietly crying into her cereal bowl.  
"Why the _fuck_ are you cryin'? I said _go_." Terry has no problem moving closer to her.   
"Stop." Mickey pulls her back.   
"Don't _you_ tell me to _stop!"_ He throws the pitcher of orange juice against the farthest wall, and the youngest shrieks.   
Mick has to stop her from hiding under the table.  
"Hey, hey it's okay, Mick's got you..." Iggy has to whisper to her.  
" _Don't_ make me fucking hit any of you! _Go!_ "   
You know who's demands sends them upwards and bolting into their rooms to gather what they need.  
Mandy's fixing her makeup on the way out, sounding a few sniffles.   
"You look like a fucking whore." Her Dad criticizes, already opening the fridge for another beer.  
Gathered with his brothers outside of their now closed room with the the knowledge that he can't say anything to him unless he wants a beating, Mickey furiously squeezes the filled out ROTC forms in his fist, the papers that he sure as hell won't he forgetting.

Even when being repeatedly asked not to, Joey still follows Mickey and Mandy into the middle school parking lot.   
"Joey, we _said_ get away." Mandy complains, he and Mickey trying to walk as far away from him as possible despite him catching up effortlessly.  
" _No_ , I'm _helping_ Mickey talk to Ian." He declares.  
" _I'm_ doing that!" She demands, spinning around and angrily cringing.   
" _Neither_. Of you, are helping me. _Okay?"_ Mickey snaps, turning towards the both of them. "I don't _need_ any of your guys' help."  
" _Yes you do,_ " his siblings assert together, having him roll his eyes.   
"Hey guys," noticing the three siblings standing together, Lip walks over beside them.   
"You have the wrong school, Joe." He teases him in regards to Fiona, making Mick and Mandy snicker.   
" _Mickey_ doesn't, though." He jabs over, staring Mick down who's know embarrassingly glaring at the pavement.  
Wanting him and only him to continue, Lip crosses his arms and continues to stare.  
"I like Ian, okay?" Mickey admits with another flushed face, knowing that no one was going to stop looking at him until he confessed.  
"I'm pretty sure everyone _but_ Ian knows that, Mick." Lip chuckles at him, who clenches his teeth in response.   
He fumes, hearing Joey and Mandy scoff.  
"Whatever." He mutters insecurely.   
"There he is!" Joey points him out uncomfortably standing around on his crutch and gazing throughout the lot, from ten feet away.  
" _What?_ " Mickey panics, already sweating.  
"Talk to him." Lip states.  
"What-what do I _say?_ What do I _do...?_ I've never _liked_ anyone before...!"   
"Just act natural," Mandy supports, only for Mickey to fix his posture and connect his hands onto his hips as if he's a damn statue.   
"Not _now!_ When you _talk to him!_ And that's not _natural_ , idiot." Mandy growls to him while Lip chuckles.  
Groaning in response, Mickey puts his arms back against his sides and resumes slouching.  
"You gotta be friends first." Lip guides.  
"I don't even know if we're _that!"_ Mickey cries.  
"Then figure it out." Joey shoves him forward in Ian's direction, leaving him to worriedly whimper and feel the lump appear in his throat.  
The others won't stop watching him until he's succeeded.  
Mickey trembles the entire way over, almost dropping the forms that he still very much holds in his hands.   
"Hi," Ian's the first to greet, flashing a bright smile.  
"Hi..." Mick's very own smile is warmer than the weather they currently stand in.  
"Um, I-I was just wondering," Despite the cold weather, Mickey's sweaty fingers are scratching the back of his sweaty neck.  
"Do--do you, want to be friends...?"   
"I thought we already were." Ian smiles with flattery.  
" _Oh!_ Okay," Mick regretfully giggles, but he watches Ian's smile grows bigger. "Cool..." he finishes, not knowing what to say next.  
"Uh-uh what happened to your foot?" He notices, eyes going down to the cast.   
"Oh...I jumped out a window." Ian's content at the way it sounds to most people: cool, rebellious.   
"Why?" Mickey chuckles again.  
"Uhhh...I was at Karen's."  
His heart drops at that, eyes losing light.   
"Her Dad didn't like that we were alone together, and...Yeah." Ian finishes with a forced giggle.  
Able to hear their conversation, Lip gawks. "Slut," he hears Mandy comment, having him glance at her.   
She gives him a smirk.  
"Oh, well...I'm sorry you got hurt..."  
"Thanks,"  
Mickey wouldn't be surprised if he melted from the sight of his smile.  
"So, what are you doing this weekend?"  
At that, he almost starts hyperventilating.  
Is he asking out of curiosity, or because he wants to _see_ _him?_  
"Uh, uh-I--"   
He helplessly looks back at the others, who make rapid gestures with their hands and mouth incomprehensible wording.  
"I'm..." He turns back to him on the verge of physical sickness.  
 _Say_ _something_ _cool_.  
"I'm getting a tattoo..."  
Lip, Mandy and Joey's mouths all gape.  
"Whoa, really?" Ian's intrigued.  
"Yeah....." Mickey really doesn't want to continue.  
"You gotta fake ID?"  
"Yeah..." That part is true.   
"Cool, well, could I come and watch? I'm not doing much."   
Mickey's having a mental aneurism at his offer.  
"O-okay...!"  
"Cool," he smiles again, until Karen's walking up and touching his shoulder. "Hey silly. Can we talk for a sec?"   
Mickey's crumpling his papers again.  
"Sure, uh, bye Mick." He glances over at his shrinking pupils.  
Mick...  
"Uh, y-yeah bye," he smiles, waving a goodbye with his papers.  
"Make sure to hand those in by nine 'o clock...!" Ian reminds, already walking towards the school with Karen.  
Trying to adjust to everything that just freaking happened, he weakly walks over to Joey Mandy and Lip.  
"A _tattoo, Mick?_ " Mandy frowns.  
" _Dude._ You _don't like needles."_ Joey harshly reminds.   
"I _know_ , _okay?!_ " His brother might just scream.  
"So what are you gonna do?" Mandy asks.  
"Temporary." Joe suggests.  
"Did you not _hear_ him? He _wants_ to _watch."_ Mick grills.  
"Tell him, oh I don't know, that you've _changed_ _your_ _mind?!"_ Mandy's eyes roll at them.  
"But I _want_ to see him! Lip _what_ _do_ _I_ _do.._." Mickey desperately seeks him for a solution.  
After a long period of silence due to his long overdue thinking, Lip finally declares to him,  
"Looks like you're getting inked..."  
Mands' and Joe have to prevent him from being attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading til the end!   
> Comment please ;)


	6. Let's Continue, Shall We?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian grows jealous of Lip and Mickey's friendship for a reason he won't let himself admit.  
> Mickey's sent over the edge about his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry these are getting to be long waiting updates!! Bare with me!

After the whole 'hey! Yes, yes I am in fact getting a tattoo' incident, Joey lets Mickey sit in the upperclassman parking lot with him for a necessary class ditching, up against the brick built front of the school in accompany of cigarettes, and booze.  
"I am _such_ a fucking idiot..." Mick rants about himself, taking a swig of his glass bottled whiskey and sulking into the distance.  
Joey's too busy staring at Fiona and her friends walking past them and onto the building, to respond in his brother's time of need.  
The girls' snicker and whisper at Joey's clear eavesdropping, jogging into the school in fits of giggles.  
"Are you even _listening...?_ " Mickey asks, moments after they're gone.  
"You know what _is it_ with women?" Joey asks back his own million dollar question.  
" _Joey. Not_ the main issue here," Mickey snaps through clenched teeth, slamming his drink onto the ground.  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just _don't_ get the tattoo. _Duh,_ " Joe spreads out his arms in hopes of a bold statement.  
"But I _need_ to get the tattoo to make myself look cool."  
"You're _already_ tough, Mickey! You don't need a goddamn _tattoo_ to prove it. What, you get the tattoo and Ian Gallagher _magically_ falls in love with you?" He knows he's testing him.  
"Shut up. I'll figure it out." Mick stomps down his foot. " _Jesus._ "  
At the not so perfect timing, Iggy and Jaimie come walking up to them.  
"What the hell is he doing in the high school parking lot." Iggy and Jaimie both glare down at him.  
"Getting high" he responds icily, lighting a cig and purposely blowing the smoke into his face.  
"That's not getting _high_."  
"Get away!" Mickey hollers. Maybe if he inhales enough smoke he'll lose all consciousness and die.  
"He's getting a tattoo this weekend, _right,_ fuck face?" Joey asserts to him, snatching away the lighter and flaring his own cigarette.  
"Sweet. Can we come?" Iggy wonders while Jaimie perks up in amusement.  
" _No._ _None_ of you, are coming. Neither is Mandy, either. It's just gonna be _me_ ,"  
"And _Ian..."_ Joey sings, being the opposite of discreet and placing in his cigarette to inhale.  
" _Fuck off, Joey!"_ Mickey elbows him just enough to have him start coughing up smoke.  
" _Lip's_ gonna be there too." He makes sure to remind in a growl.  
"Who the fuck are they?" Jaimie frowns.  
"Only the brothers of the love of my life..." Joey's dazed off in thought again.  
"You're _still_ obsessed with her?" Iggy whines, prior to Mickey adding "Quit acting pathetic."  
"Oh," Joe glares back at him. " _I'm_ pathetic, when you're the one lying about tattoos to Ian-?!"  
" _Shut up! Shut up! Shut! Up!"_ Mickey's only instinct is to blare at him relentlessly, to stop him from saying too much, as if he hasn't already.  
His brothers all stare at him with cringes and bewilderment.  
With humiliation and self hatred, the youngest brother stares down at the ground with his red eyes and heated face. He stands up firmly with a drop of his joint, to pick up his half full whiskey bottle and chuck it across the lot.  
"Mickey what the _hell?!"_ Jaimie asks, hearing the breaking of glass and witnessing him stomp all the way back to his own lot.  
"What the fuck's with him?" Jaimie looks to Joey.  
"Puberty..."  
He's aware that he's already said more than needed.

About to talk to Karen before she can reach class twenty five feet away, and hopefully not get mauled, Lip takes one step forward in her direction, before hearing Mickey's running footsteps heading towards him.  
"Dude what's up..." He sees the redness and sweat all over his face, the two now inches apart, speaking cautiously.  
" _You,_ are _joining_ Ian, when I get that tattoo tomorrow..." he pants out breathlessly, sweaty hand gripping Lip by his shirt, who doesn't like the crazed look in his eyes.  
"Uh, yeah, man, no problem..." He doesn't want push Mick over the goddamn edge.  
Watching him groan all his way down the hall and pass Karen who cringes with confusion, he shakes his head in disbelief.  
"What the hell is _his_ problem?" She turns in Lip's direction, her figure in front of their classroom door.  
"He's just stressed..." Lip's surprised she's actually _not_ trying to kill him.  
"I actually wanted to talk to you," he brings up.  
"Same here." She makes his way over to him.  
"I heard Ian was at your place yesterday. That's how he got the bad foot..."  
"Yeah, my Dad has some 'issues' he needs to work out. I think the whole clown thing has gotten to his head and that's why-"  
"Okay yeah yeah, anyway...Um..." He doesn't know what to say next.  
"Listen, Lip. I'm going to be honest. The only reason I even got involved with him, was because of my anger towards you."  
"I got that."  
"Yeah. So..."  
She takes off her eyepatch, revealing her most certainly not better-if not even worse, eye.  
"I want to blow you, Lip."  
" _Uh_ -uh-uhhh..." His own body is twitching at her condition.  
"Can't we just forget about everything that happened?"  
"Can't _you_ just see a doctor first?"  
"It'll heal."  
" _Karen-"_  
She covers her eye back up with an angered huff.  
"Do you think Ian likes you?" Lip wants her perspective.  
"He _thinks_ he likes me."  
"Huh...?"  
She almost laughs. "I _wanted_ to sleep with him to get back at you, but there _wasn't_ much cooperation."  
"Go on..." He's waiting for it.  
"I tried to go down on him."  
"'Tried'?"  
"Mm-hm." She raises her eyebrows and keeps her lips sealed.  
"I'm gonna need a conclusion, here."  
Her pause sends a long silence throughout the empty hallway that the both of them stand within.  
"Ever try to play pool with a rope?"  
This time, he pauses.  
"Nice analogy..."  
"I tried to talk to him about everything and how he's just not aware of a lot of things, yet but he's just so-- _clueless._ "  
"Believe me. I know..." Lip's not a fan of so either.  
"He doesn't even want me being his _beard._ I think he wants me to be his girlfriend..." Her face scrunches up awkwardly. "I told him that us 'dating' would be awkward, because of, ya know, what _we_ used to do, but he said 'you never even liked me romantically anyway.'" She laughs with disbelief.  
"Crazy, right?"  
Apparently Ian isn't the only one in denial here. "He kissed my cheek after that." She adds breezily, only to laugh even more.   
"Hahaha yeah pretty crazy..." Lip laughs along uncomfortably.  
After the strangeness dies down, he desperately goes back to the main topic.  
"He'll realize sooner or later. The reason Mick back there was acting so angsty is because he has the biggest crush on him in the history of the world."  
" _He_ likes _Ian?"_  
"You can't say shit about it, okay?"  
"Ya think he'll make him realize?"  
"Soon. They're already friends, so we'll see where it goes."  
"We can medal," she suggests, actually growing interested in the whole situation.  
"Hm," he nods in fascination, liking that idea and crossing his arms with thought.  
"Let's start after class. We're late enough as it is."  
There's another long pause after his suggestion.  
"Or we can fuck again," her eyebrows wiggle.  
Off to the bathroom they go.  
"Oh _Jesus come on!"_ Mickey was in the middle of stressfully gazing at himself in the mirror, again, until they barged in with their tongues down each other's throats.  
He scrambles out before it's too late.

Entering the office with his ROTC forms, he smirks at the same secretary, who is as usual not very happy to see him.  
"Mr. Milkovich. May I ask why you're not in class?"  
"Was told to get these in by nine." He strolls over and throws the sign up sheets onto the desk.  
"It's eight fifty eight." He tries best as he can to read the clock on the wall above them.  
"Right?"  
"Close. Eight fifty six." Her hands fold, eyes darting into his soul.  
"Ah. Even better, Janine." He reads her name tag for once in his life.  
"I'm Mrs. Callaster, to you."  
"There are my forms." He ignores her last statement, voice bland. "I'm guessing you gotta pass it down to the kernel to check out, or whatever the fuck they're called. Surgeon."  
" _Sargent,_ Mr. Milkovich."  
"Do you even know my first name?" His eyes squint, hands moving down to his hips.  
"Why of course I do, Mickhalio."  
This time he glares, releasing a lighthearted chuckle from the woman.  
"Well that's nice, but I should really get going now."  
"It's nice to see you getting out there. You thinking about serving our country, Mickhalio?"  
"Sure, let's go with that..." He'd rather not reveal that his motive is entirely about a dreamy freckled redhead.  
"I'm sure they'll be able to fit you in at the start of next semester."  
His eyes widen but his pupils shrink. He might as well be a goddamn balloon being popped and flown across the room.  
"' _Semester_ '-w-when does _that_ start?"  
"First week back after holiday break."  
"That's too _far!_ I gotta do this _now!"_ Instead of asserted demands, he's panicking right on the spot.  
"If your application is appreciated, then I can guarantee you you'll be a participant this upcoming semester."  
"But that's too far...!" He repeats, thinking that more he says it the quicker things will be fixed.  
"You'll just have to wait, Mr. Milkovich. I'm sure you can do other training until then, correct?" She assumes.  
"This isn't even _about_ that! It's _about_ freaking-" But he stops himself there, the tears in his eyes already revealing enough of his vulnerability. Specifically, his vulnerability and his weakness towards one particular seventh grader.  
Ian Gallagher has taken Mickey Milkovich by storm.  
And boy, is storm the correct word.  
"Whatever, th-this is pointless, I gotta go."  
"Mickhalio."  
" _No!_ _Jesus,_ " he grumbles, going as far as to take away the papers, and abandon the office with them.  
For Janine, her next stop is Mickey's file.  
As for Mickey himself, he's clumsily running down the hallway in a mess of tears, shredding each and every paper within his hands.  
Watching all of the pieces fall to the ground is all too familiar.  
Like father like son.

After the class that he spent much little to no time in because he spent the first half screwing in the bathroom, Lip catches up with Ian next, to get the _correct_ _and_ _obvious_ sexual orientation through his thick skull.  
"Yo, Ian." He stops him in the hall.  
"So, Karen kinda told me about what happened yesterday."  
"Yeah?" The youngest is blushing now.  
"Yeah. She said trying to get you sexually satisfied was like trying to play pool with a rope..." Both Lip's tone and his eyes are dead, just wanting to Ian freaking confess already.  
"It was awkward..." Ian recalls, face scrunching up.  
"And that's _okay!"_ Lip grows bright. "I'm glad you've finally come to terms with yourself. _Soon_ a guy will go down with you and it'll be like a pool game played _right."_  
However, Lip is unfortunately far off to what Ian was going to continue with.  
"I just haven't sexually developed yet," he assumes with shrugging shoulders.  
" _What?"_ Lip cringes, scoffing at his claim. "Ian, you're a _thirteen_ year-old guy. _What_ thirteen year-old guy hasn't sexually developed yet."  
"Me..."  
" _Bullshit!"_ He leaves his brother jumping.  
"Calm down...!" He holds up his palm.  
"I _won't_ calm down until you admit you'd rather be sucked off by a _dude!_ "  
"Are you trying to _sexualize_ me?! _Jesus_ Lip I'm _thirteen._ "  
"Yeah well I'm _fourteen,_ and I most certainly _have_ sexually developed because _Karen_ and I just fucked in the bathroom stall."  
" _What?"_ Ian's mouth drops open before releasing a temperamental groan. "Dammit Lip, you _always_ take the girls from me!"  
" _What_ girls, Ian?!"  
He just about laughs, when watching Ian's red and puffing face says nothing while giving his wise oldest brother a big fat glare.  
"I...I'd only let girls do that kinda stuff to me, Lip..." He's letting himself resuming to speak.  
"Quit lying, Ian. Hell _I_ could blow you right now and you'd enjoy it."  
" _I'M_ _LEAVING...!_ " This is a whole new level of weird for him.  
Lip cackles while watching him run off to his last class before lunch.  
"Lip what the hell..." Karen, who was knowingly eavesdropping this whole time, struts back up to him a cringe on her face.  
"I'm desperate, okay?" He mutters.  
"Lip, I don't like having to tell you this, but I think Ian cracked..." Mandy informs, walking over to them after had walking past a teary eyed Ian down the hall.  
When coming into contact, she and Karen squint at each other.  
"You know it's ironic how you're wearing a goddamn eye patch but have such a flat _ass._ "  
"Your clothes are slutty..." Karen knows she can't top that.  
"Can you guys' put your idiotic feud aside for _one_ second?" Lip stresses. "We _need_ a plan."  
"For what?" Mands' questions.  
"I know about the whole Ian thing," says Karen.  
"How?"  
"Yesterday I was planning to sleep with him to get back at Lip, but he was in no way cooperative."  
"Slut."  
"Shut up."  
"Guys." Lip reminds.  
"So, what do I do?" Karen asks him.  
"This time don't just try to go down on him. _Actually_ try to get him to stick it in you."  
"What if _I_ wanna do that?" Mandy envies.  
"I'm the one that started it so just let me do it." She's showed no niceness from Karen.  
"I wanna be apart of this too; my _brother's_ the one who _likes_ him." She asserts.  
Lip does some thinking for a quick moment, until he snaps his fingers with a lightbulb shining in his brain.  
"I got it! You can both try to tag team him."  
Both girls' smile at once. " _Cooool_ , when?" Mandy's fascinated.  
"Don't know. We'll figure it out."  
All grinning at one another, they confidently exchange high fives. Even the two borderline frenemy-if not enemy -girls.  
Mandy purposely slams her palm up against Karen's so hard, that both their palms are left red and stinging.  
" _Owe,_ bitch, that hurt."  
"It was supposed to."  
Lip rolls his eyes.

If Mandy thinks that she saw Ian in his first stage of cracking, she hasn't seen nothing yet when she, Lip and Karen find her knee hugging and tear stained faced older brother, sitting up against one of the four auditorium walls in a state of complete sadness and pain.  
Right now, those are the only words that Mickey can use to describe his mind.  
Sadness. Pain. Sadness. Pain. Sadness pain sadness pain everything is just _sadness and pain._  
Mickey never knew that his heart could ache for someone in such a way at all.  
"Mick, we were looking everywhere for you." Lip touches his shoulder and sits by his side, waving a palm in front of his face to see if he'll even blink.  
"What the hell happened?" Karen's concerned.  
"Why is she here..." he wonders blandly, and Mandy snickers in her direction.  
"I _know_ about all this shit, okay? Mandy and I are gonna tag team Ian to make him realize his gayness." Karen explains herself.  
"What...?" Mickey's body feels like it's turning inside out just hearing that.  
"Never mind that." Lip doesn't want him thinking about it-or himself thinking about it, either.  
"I won't be able to join ROTC until next semester..." Mick finally lets out, wiping off a dried tear from his cheek.  
"That's not too far away," Mandy lightly suggests.  
"Yeah but I wanna be around him _now_. I can't _wait_ for this shit," he rants, cracking his knuckles and clenching his toes.  
"You're already getting closer to him. He's gonna see you get your tattoo tomorrow!" Lip chirps.  
"Don't remind me..."  
"Can I come?" Karen requests.  
" _No."_ The two Milkoviches snap together, leaving her to frown.  
"Don't worry about ROTC, Mick. Besides, with Ian's injury, you think _he'll_ be able to continue participating? Not for a long while. So you won't be missing out on anything" Lip reminds.  
"True, I guess..." he shyly shrugs before looking to Karen. "What were you guys doing...? To make your Dad chase him to the point of having to jump out a window..."  
Part of him doesn't want to know, but also knows they would've had to been acting physically intimate for her Dad to act so irrationally.  
"I tried going down on him, but lets just say no tent was pitched."  
"What?" He cocks his head, trying not to get jealous enough of as it is.  
"He wasn't hard." Mandy clarifies.  
"Oh..." That gives Mickey some sort of relief. That's another sign pointing to him being gay, right?  
"Did you kiss him...?" He stares at Karen with pleading eyes.  
Her heart almost breaks at his ironic but also unironic innocence.  
"Yeah, but trust me. He was _not_ into it."  
She smirks at the relief on his face, lightly leaning over and touching his shoulder, before smiling kindly and walking out.  
"Bitch is faking." Mandy automatically accuses.  
" _Mandy,"_ Lip doesn't want to hear it.  
"I'm gonna go talk to her." She declares, already on her way out to the sounds of Mick and Lip trying to call her back.  
It doesn't work.  
They stay silent for a few long pauses, to listen to any sudden fights or screaming matches between the girls, but the coast seems clear when it's been over forty silent seconds.  
"Is this the only reason you hang out with me?" Lip breaks the silence with his self important question. "Because you like Ian?"  
" _What?_ " Mickey frowns. "Dude, I hung out with you _before_ I met your brother. You know that..."  
"I know, so, is your crush on him, like, more of a reason to be around me?"  
"Come on man, _no_. Maybe a little," he smirks playfully, and Lip laughs.  
"But I would never _use_ you just to get closer to him. You're cool to be around in general."  
"Cool..." Lip is honestly flattered. "Uh, I've never really had, like, a real guy friend before. Or a friend at all, really. So...Thanks."  
"Same here," Mick laughs nervously.  
Lip's smile grows bigger, Mickey's laugh turning louder once they fist bump one another.  
"Ah," Lip finishes laughing. "So do you think your sister is really into me...?"  
"You slept with pirate bitch, so why do you care." Mickey shrugs.  
Lip says nothing to that.  
"Um, so, since you two walked into the bathroom with your tongues down each other's throats, does that mean she's not into your brother anymore...?" He wishes it to be so.  
Except, "Dude she never really _was_ into him. She just pulled that whole stunt to make me jealous." Lip reassures.  
"Oh, okay...Good.." He's blushing and gazing away again. He never knew how relieved showing his vulnerabilities could make him feel.  
He was raised to not show emotion; to not show fear, when in reality they're just two of the many factors _of_ reality.  
"N-not that I wouldn't understand if she _did_ like him like that. Your brother's..." He trails off embarrassingly, face to red for his mouth to continue.  
Lip giggles in wonder at him. "You're not saying his name..."  
"What?" Mick has to do a double take.  
"You just keep calling him 'your brother'..." He concludes.  
"Sorry," Mick giggles. "Even saying his name now makes me feel kinda fuzzy..." he admits, stomach doing endless twists and turns.  
"Okay, well, what about hearing it? Ian. Ian. Ian." He grins a wide, shit ass grin at him.  
" _Stop,"_ Mick smiles, face red and tingling in Lip's direction, before remembering, "Hey what about you? You called Mandy 'my sister.' Huh?" He grins teasingly.  
The oldest one scoffs in denial. "Sh-shut up. Ian."  
"Mandy."  
" _Ian._ "  
" _Mandy_."  
Their smiles grow bigger with each repeat, and in conclusion they're giggling and shoving each other relentlessly.  
In the middle of so, Ian walks through the door unknowingly, holding the door open with one, and holding himself up with his crutch with the other. His school bag rests around his right shoulder.  
He feels a small sting of needy jealousy, witnessing his brother bond with Mickey to such an extent.  
Or more importantly, watching Mickey bond with his brother.  
"Oh, hey," Lip notices him, Mickey's regular eyes turning into heart eyes at the unexpected sight of the younger Gallagher.  
"Hey," he's speaking to both of them but is looking directly at Mickey, who's already goddamn stuttering in his mind.  
It's Ian fucking Gallagher.  
"Uh, can I ditch with you guys?"  
Mickey and Lip had already entirely forgotten about class, where hopefully Mandy and Karen are instead of mauling each other.  
"Sure," Lip speaks for Mick who is still currently tongue tied.  
"I passed by Mandy and she told me I could find you guys here..."  
Mick glares at Lip, when he scoots over for Ian to sit in the middle of him.  
He'll be sitting next to goddam Ian Gallagher.  
He sits down in the middle of them, laying his crutch and school bag vertically across from their feet, while he and Mick's thighs happen to just be inches apart.  
"Uh-uh do you need help with your...Thing?" He asks, nodding down at the crutch's direction.  
'Why the hell would you _ask_ that, dumbass? He's already _seated_. Fuck yourself.'  
"Oh, no, thanks though..." Ian smiles at him and his offer brightly.  
'What dude smiles at another dude like that and _isn't_ gay?!' Lip shouts in his own head, eyes staring at the two just a little too boldly.  
Ruining their nice moment, he's looked at with awkward expressions.  
"Um," He clears his throat. "I think I'm gonna get to class."  
" _Lip_. _No."_ Mickey's practically grunting under his breath, face incensed and terrified.  
"I'll see you guys." But he's already standing up and giving Mick an apologetic look.  
"See ya man."  
They high five, and Mickey fucking hates to admit it, but he already knows that he can never stay mad at Lip Gallagher.  
Ian sorrows at the laughter that is exchanged.  
Mickey's heart is in his stomach, severe anxiety zapping through him and having to sit his right leg over his unexpected bulge, now that Lip is gone and leaving them alone.  
If you define 'gone' as slowly rising up against the double doored windows and pressing his nose against the glass to spy on them.  
'Say something. _Anything._ _Say_ anything, Mickey! _Jesus_ you're terrible at this.'  
Only if he knew Ian is thinking similar thoughts...  
'Start a conversation, idiot. He's this cool badass, and _you're_ a freckled seventh grader in a cast.'  
"Uh-uh I like your cast," Mick wants to start it out with a compliment, flimsily pointing over to the blank white cast over Ian's injured foot.  
'Nice job, Mickey. _Nice_ fucking job. Jesus this kid is turning you into a freak show.'  
'A cast that he _likes_. How can he be so cool and nice at the same time?'  
"Thanks..." Ian's smile slowly but surely creeps across his face to be one of the biggest ones he's ever showed.  
And boy, is it contagious.  
His giggle only has Mickey blush deep shades of red.  
Fuck.  
"Uh d-do you wanna sign it?"  
'He _stuttered!_ He stuttered while talking to me! Holy fucking _shit!_ ' Mickey knows that he may be overthinking just a little bit, but he doesn't care because Ian just fucking _stuttered_ while talking to him!  
Ian who's waiting for him to actually respond because he's lost in the love struck daze he's in.  
"Uh y-yeah! Yeah..." Mick can't believe he almost forgot to speak, face flushing and grin reappearing.  
"Cool. You'll be the first one."  
'Does that mean I'm special?'  
Watching him cutely struggle to reach for his bag, Mickey smiles and pushes it up for him.  
"Thanks," Ian chuckles, had been feeling more embarrassed with each second that went by where his fist just couldn't clasp the bag.  
"Yeah," Mickey breathes out a laugh, watching Ian dig around in the bag.  
"Uh, what color do you want?" Ian's offering, and Mick's face explodes into more redness.  
"Uh-uh it doesn't really matter..." He doesn't want to sound picky.  
"Here," Ian turns back to him with a blue sharpie and a smile on his face, in which Mickey tries to not get too lost in.  
"Thanks" his hand just barely shakes while reaching for it.  
Faintly hearing the words exchanged and having a clear view of everything, Lip smiles and stands up as best he can.  
Chuckling more, Mickey nervously takes off the cap and leans down towards Ian's cast, signing his name with the best handwriting he can attempt to achieve. The shaking of his hand doesn't exactly help.  
Ian smiles in response once Mickey's back looking in his direction with an awkward smile and red sweaty face.  
"H-here" he adjusts the cap back on and places it back in his bag for him so he doesn't have to.  
Ian can't stop smiling. Things are natural with him, and he's never seen someone go so out of their way to be this nice to him.  
He's never met anyone so tough and sincere at the same time. Mickey makes him feel something that he's never really felt before. Something he's unknowingly not aware of just yet.  
"Thanks for making me feel better." He expresses.  
"What was wrong?" Mickey doesn't the like the sound of that, though the other part of him is freaking out because he allegedly cheered him up. Ian Gallagher feels better because of him _._  
Marvelous.  
"Oh, uh," Ian doesn't look like he really wants to talk about it, but so far Mickey's never judged him for anything.  
Maybe he'll finally open up about the constant struggle and denial of his real sexuality?!  
"It's this whole Karen thing..."  
"Do you not like her?" Mickey hopes by 'this whole Karen thing' he means that he's come to realization that he doesn't like her because he's _gay._  
"No, I do."  
Mickey's face deflates, while Lip rolls his eyes eyes with his nose still against the glass.  
"But Lip told me that he slept with her..."  
"Yeah, I kinda witnessed their make out session..." Mick awkwardly recalls.  
He worries at the dramatic sigh he witnesses Ian release, before he looks away and into the distance of the room.  
"I just," Ian doesn't know how to start. "I've always felt outshined by Lip. Yeah, I have my whole ROTC thing, but he's always had the brains. And the charm. No wonder all the girls prefer him over me."  
Lip bites his bottom lip, hearing that. ' _Shit.._.'  
"Dude do you know how _smart_ you have to be to be in the army?" Mickey wants Ian thinking _no_ doubts about himself.  
"Yeah, you and Lip are smart in different ways, but so is _everyone._ I don't know _shit_ about jumping through tires, or tanks." He examples the first two military related things that pop into his head.  
Because of him Ian is smiling again.  
"A-and about the girl thing,"  
'You're gay. End of story.'  
"D-don't worry about that. You're..."  
He must choose his words wisely and not so gayly.  
"You're _way_ cooler than Lip."  
The same Lip still spying on them outside grows quite offended by this statement.  
Not knowing whether to vocally deny it like he already is mentally, or to simply thank him for the billionth time, Ian laughs and shakes his head.  
"Do you like him?" He blurts, and his automatic facial expression right afterwards shows that he did _not_ mean for it to come out like that.  
Mouth opening with a lack for words, Mickey can only blink hazily at the question. Has he figured out he's gay? And if so, then he should have already picked up on the fact that he has the _biggest_ fucking crush in the history of crushes on _him,_ and _not_ his brother.  
"Y-you know what I mean," Ian's aware of how it sounded. "L-like do you like hanging out with him...?" There's now a fresh coat of warm across his face.  
"Y-yeah! Yeah, of course."  
Lip smiles.  
"This is gonna sound dumb, but sometimes I feel like you're obligated to talk to me just 'cause you hang with him."  
Mickey cringes at yet another one of Ian's doubts.  
"Dude I like _both_ of you."   
He doesn't want Lip thinking that he only hangs out with him to get closer to Ian, or Ian thinking he only hangs around him 'cause he feels like he has to.  
Both of those things are farthest from the truth.  
"Sweet," Ian giggles again, leaving Mickey having no idea what to do with himself. "W-we can all hang out together, so, it's cool." He hears him suggest, instantly responding with a nod.  
"Yeah, totally." Mick agrees.  
'Just don't come to my house...'  
"Oh, did you get those ROTC forms in...?" While Ian does still want him to participate, he'd prefer that he's participating at a time when his cast is off and he's able to do it too.  
"Oh, uh, they said next semester, probably..." Mickey turns shy just saying it.  
"Oh, yeah, that can happen. But you're lucky. I had to wait over four months, when I first applied. Besides-it kinda works out, since I'm gonna have this cast on for a while."  
"Oh, yeah," Mickey forces a light laugh even though he doesn't entirely understand what he's getting at.  
"So, ya know, we can do it together." Ian finishes brightly.  
All color in Mickey's face is gone, unlike his eyes which are brightening profoundly.  
"Yeah...Together." He feels woozy just repeating it, smiling giddily. A good kind of woozy, though. A racing heart and sweaty palm 'oh my god I'm so in _love_ ' kind of a woozy.  
A woozy that Mickey had no idea was possible.  
The only kind of woozy he's ever felt before this moment was the kind he'd feel his Dad would be up to no good.  
A woozy that will be returning soon. So for now, he's going to enjoy this particular woozy while it lasts.  
When Lip eventually hears the boys agreeing that they should get back, he takes away his nose and hastily sprints all the way down to the end of the hall.  
"Was that there before...?" Ian asks when the both of them notice the smudged print at the same time.  
"Don't know..." Mickey can't recall.  
Since he had insisted on carrying his bag for him, Ian holds the door open for Mickey on the way out.

At the high school, Joey Milkovich still isn't having much luck with Fiona.  
But that still doesn't stop him from trying.  
"Hey Fiona," he catches up with her on their way out of class.  
"Oh, _Jesus._ Hey Joey." She keeps walking.  
"So listen..." he puts his arm around her anyway, in which her forehead crinkles.  
"I found a parlor in that mall down in pineville,  for my little brother Mickey, to get a tattoo at after school."  
"He's in the _eighth_ _grade._ "  
" _So?_ See this piercing?" He points over to his left ear. "I got that when I was ten."  
"Awesome..." She's being sarcastic with her eyebrows timidly raised and slowly nodding her head.  
"Your brothers are gonna be there, _I'm_ gonna be there, so why not you too, huh?"  
"Uhhhh..." She's deciding while awkwardly taking away his arm. He frowns at that.  
She _does_ want to keep an eye on Ian and Lip while they're around a family such as the _Milkoviches,_ but she has to pick up Debbie and Carl from school. Then again, Veronica could possibly pick them up instead.  
"I'll see what I can do," she flashes a smirk. Maybe this whole flirting thing can be fun, right? Joey doesn't seem _so_ bad.  
"Sweet..." He smiles back.  
He just about faints, when she winks before purposely strutting off.  
"Oh my God..."  
Fucking Gallagher's.

While Joey's set on dragging Mickey to the parlor because there's a possibility that Fiona might join them, Mickey, well Mickey's not so happy.  
"You _what?!_ " He screams to him in his school's parking lot, standing across from him at their time of dismissal.  
"I didn't actually _book_ anything; it's just at a parlor at the mall downtown!"  
"Well they _better_ be booked." Mickey was not expecting this to be happening so suddenly.  
"Calm down, Louise. And don't embarrass me. Fiona might be tagging along."  
" _That's_ what this is about-?!"  
"Hey, guys..." Lip approaches then with Ian by his side, holding his hooks for him.  
"H-hey...!" Mickey's attention turns to Ian, Joey temperamentally gesturing forward his hand.  
" _I'm_ taking Mick to get his tattoo. Right?" Joey slaps his back a little too hard.  
"Y-yup..."  
"Well Mickey doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to, _right_ Joey?" Lip glares up at him.  
"Yeah, are you sure?" Ian observes his nervousness, sending nausea into Mickey's stomach.  
"Uh-uh-I-"  
"Hey! I'm in." Fiona chirps after walking over to them and specifically up to Joey.  
"You _are?"_ Lip wonders, brow furrowing.  
"I called Vee and she can pick up the kids."  
"Mickey let's go." Joey asserts.  
" _What?_ "  
"Where are we going?" Mandy joins them with curiosity.  
"Mick's tattoo." Joe answers, while an overhearing Iggy and Jaimie are waking up.  
"You guys ready?" Joey asks them.  
"Sounds good," Iggy shrugs, while Jaime agrees to it.  
"Wait!" Karen yells, jogging up and over to them in her eyepatch. "Can I come?"  
"Oh, _come_ _onnnn_ ," Mandy whines with an eye roll, while Ian grows plain awkward and uncomfortable.  
She cockily smirks at the youngest Milkovich.  
Mickey is sighing miserably, a for once observant Ian discreetly noticing so.

Not even two minutes into their about fifteen minute walk on the right sidewalk beside the road, and Mickey's on the verge of a tiny, small, mental breakdown.  
"You okay?" Fiona notices.  
"I'm _fine_." He doesn't mean for it to come out so harsh.  
"Don't snap at my woman." Joey puts his arm around her again, leading for everyone else to groan in irritably.  
Ian's walking farthest as he can from Karen, while Mickey is walking as close as _he_ can to him. "Y-you sure you don't need help with your bag?"  
"No, thanks." Again he smiles, and Mickey's flushed face just might be a replacement for the sun hiding behind the clouds.  
Fiona and Lip give each other a knowledgeable look.  
Noticing Ian is gazing at Karen far ahead of him, Mickey wants to expose her most likely how infected eye, so he'll stop.  
The freckled boy doesn't even know why he's trying, due to she and Lip's recent 'encounter.'  
Not only that, but because she's _still_ not giving up on him.  
"I think it's cool that you're letting me come," she says, pushing past Mandy and latching onto his arm.  
She stops dead in her tracks and imbeds her eyes right into the back of her blonde haired head.  
"Oh, uh..." But Lip puts a stop to it, stepping away. "Karen, I, uh, thought we agreed that we're just friends..."  
Mandy grins, and Fiona scoffs with a shake of her head.  
Gawking, Karen steps back and sends a slap right to Lip's face.  
Everyone else but the victim gasps. "What the _fuck_ , Karen?!" He yells.  
"What we had was _real!"_ She claims in a scream.  
"Yeah, uh, the sex was pretty real, but..."  
Mickey and his brothers laugh quietly, causing Ian to look over at him and smile.  
"I guess I'll just go back to _Ian_ , then" she decides, walking over and grasping onto him now even though she knows that there's _nothing_ to go back to but the feelings he _thinks_ he has for her. But because she seeks appreciation from a guy no matter what, she'll accept it. Even if the guy _is_ gay and just doesn't know it yet.  
Mickey cringes at the sight, face heating up with anger.  
But this time, Ian sticks up for himself.  
"I don't _want_ to be a rebound!" He shakes off her touch and steps away.  
It's no 'I'm gay', but it's still a rejection and Mickey can live with it.  
While Ian is _still_ most certainly in denial about his true self and wants to look as straight as he can, he can still tell when he's being played.  
Rejecting a girl for being a bitch is kind of straight-looking, right?  
Karen glances at Mickey now, and the redness from his face is sucked right away.  
"Uh bro code." He pipes up, pointing with his eyes over to Lip who gives a thumbs up.  
If only he could say the _real_ reason why he could never date Karen. Or any other girl.  
"Well _who_ the hell am I supposed to make Lip jealous with?!" She yells to all of them.  
"Karen honey, I know your Mom has issues, and I know your _Dad_ has issues, and I know everyone else in your family probably has issues too, which is _why_ you act out so much, but you don't _need_ a boyfriend twenty four seven to prove yourself worthy--" Fiona's in the middle of giving a reality check, when Jaimie steps up.  
"I will!"  
" _What?!_ " His siblings ask together. While the other brothers are simply confused, Mandy's borderline disgusted.  
" _Jaime!_ You're in the _tenth_ grade!" Mickey affirms.  
"So?" He links arms with Karen. "Let's keep walking."  
She giggles and looks up at him with a pair of flattered eyes, before they walk ahead of everyone else who are all currently in a daze.  
"What the hell just _happened...?"_ Lip asks, he and everyone elsebalready twenty feet behind because they're too flabbergasted to move.  
"She's a slut. _That's_ what happened..."  
Mandy has no problem providing the answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for making it till till the end!  
> Comment what you thought down below.  
> PLEASE LOL


	7. Superhuman:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang makes it to the tattoo parlor, and things play out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry for the long wait! I'm on vacation and my brain has been complete mush in terms of story telling. I really enjoyed writing this chapter once I got the motivation, and I hope you enjoy reading it!  
> Thank you for over 1k reads and 60 kudos!!! Yay!!!!!!!

"Yeah..." Joey's awkwardly concluding with the rest of the group behind him, all stuck in the middle of the overly crowded mall where they'd now much rather not be.  
And believe it when the person who'd be doing just about anything to get out of there if it weren't for Ian being there, is Mickey.  
"We're lost."  
" _Joey!"_ They're all yelling at him except for Mickey, who's only tired of his idiocy.  
Maybe this is _luck_ that they can't find the tattoo parlor for fuck all. It's no brain teaser that he hasn't exactly been wanting to _do_ this.  
He already feels burnt out enough, and that fact that Karen is standing way too close to Jaimie, is _not_ helping.  
But he must admit, Ian standing pretty close to him _is_ helping the situation a bit. Okay a lot. It's helping the situation a lot. His stomach is doing backflips again and his heart might as well be pumping in and out of his body from all the tension.  
" _Alright,_ alright; it's gotta be around here _somewhere_." Joey tries to be the leader of the group.  
"Well do you _see_ it around here, assface?" Iggy snaps.  
"We're just not in the right _area,_ _asshole_."  
"Shouldn't there be a map around here?" Karen questions, now holding Jaimie's hand which makes Mandy cringe.  
"Can we just _get the hell_ out of this spot? I can't be around all of these fucking people." She covers up her anxiety with bluntness and a scowl.  
"Yeah guys there's a lot of us and it's getting really crowded. We can't lose anyone so let's get moving, okay?" Fiona's inner Mom kicks in.  
"I'll lead the way." Joey gloats.  
"No, _I_ will. I've worked here before." Fiona flicks an eyebrow at him, actual eyes sparkling.  
Joe smiles.  
"You're sassy. I like it."  
"I'm raising five kids. Let's go" she finishes, not needing to hear anything he has to say right now, and starting to firmly lead them in what her instincts tell her is the best direction. Everyone else is only staring at Joey blankly, causing him to scoff and shake his head in denial.  
Mick and Ian exchange small smiles which almost knocks the older one off his feet, and continue to stand close by while following behind.

It takes them seventeen minutes to find the tattoo parlor at the far left end of the store, but then they do, Mickey's anxiety isn't being cured when he watches a crying man passing them while they're all walking in, holding his covered armed tattoo in pain.  
"Psh. Pussy," Iggy comments once the man's gone, causing Mickey to shiver up. Lip and Ian  both eye him steadily.  
The fact that there is literally no one in line, or currently getting a tattoo of their own, isn't helping either.  
The Hispanic tattoo sleeved and nose pierced man with a buzz cut, stops sorting through different designs at his station and looks over at the group.  
"Any one of you wanting to get tatted?"  
Mickey just might melt into a puddle on the ground, and before anyone can draw any attention to the poor boy, Lip comes to justice.  
"Uh, yeah. Me." He steps forward, eyeing the black leather chair which he'll be sitting in to save Mickey's ass.  
"Lip, _really?_ " Fiona raises her eyebrows with concern.  
"Lip..." Mick sees what he's doing and pities himself more than appreciating it.  
"I'll go first. I promise."  
But Lip's making sure he'll be the first and last person out of that chair.  
"Lip, you don't even know what you're gonna get! Since when have you wanted a tattoo..." Fiona also catches on, but still wants him to be sure.  
"Sure I do!" He throws off his shirt and makes his way over to the chair, erupting lusted smiles and dreamy sighs from Karen and Mandy.  
The Milkovich brothers and the two remaining Gallagher siblings all groan at their reactions, many eye rolls filling the room.  
"Alright," the man walks over to Lip who is now sprawled out in the chair.  
"I'm fourteen. That alright?" He knows that the ideal a limit is usually eighteen, and that if he's not allowed to get one then Mickey surely won't be either, which they'll both be very happy about.  
"That is alright. No child under thirteen."  
"Don't even think about it." Mickey snaps at the smile on Mandy's face.  
"How much time you got?" Lip asks.  
"I got someone that should be here by five thirty."  
Mickey sighs of relief.  
"Alright, well..." Lip speaks to him. "I, uh..." He thinks as much as he can. "I want a triangle."  
"A _triangle?"_ Almost everyone asks him together.  
"Y-yeah. A...A green triangle." He wings it for Mickey. "But don't fill it in. And make it _really_ thin. Thick. Actually a mix of both. And not too big."  
After staring at him in a very hazed daze, the man blinks two times. "Alright..."  
He goes over to sketch his drawing, which takes a little more than three minutes.  
"You mean like this?" He shows it to Lip, who shrugs in amusement. "Y-yeah. Sure..."  
"Lip!" Fiona knows the only reason to why he's even doing this.  
"It's a freakin' _shape,_ Fiona!" He yells out from the chair.  
Everyone else is watching in amusement.  
"So, where exactly on your chest do you want it?" Lip is asked.  
Mickey's face is fallen.  
"Uhhhh..."  
Mickey's had enough when Lip is on the second minute of choosing the specific spot on his chest for stalling purposes, and stomps out of the parlor with a grumble.  
After giving Fiona a humble look, Ian does his best to follow him out.  
He finds him bitterly slumped up against the window of a clothing store next door to the left.  
"Hi..."  
"Hey..." Mickey's eyes light up once he's spotted, small smile appearing on his face.  
"You okay?" Ian sits down beside him, and Mick's stomach repeatedly drops.  
"Uh..." He watches him set down the crutch across from them on the floor.  
"I'm kinda having second thoughts about this whole thing..." It feels so good to get the reveal off of his chest.  
"I probably would be too," Ian chuckles, wanting him to feel better and not so insecure. He doesn't want him feeling insecure at all.  
"Really...?"  
"Yeah," Ian's still laughing breathlessly.  
"Oh...It's just, you're in ROTC and stuff, so I thought you wouldn't have a problem with any of that," Mick explains, flashing a quick cheeky smile.  
"Yeah I want to go into the army, but I'm no superhuman or anything" Ian chuckles out.  
Mickey's eyes officially darken on him.  
Is that what Ian assumed he thought about him? It's _kind_ _of_ true, but, he knows he has flaws.  
Even if he _doesn't_ see much of them half the time because he's so blindly falling for him.  
"N-not that I think you think that..." Ian clarifies with an embarrassed smile. He'd hate to come off as cocky, especially in front of Mickey who's a _mix_ of cocky and cutely sincere.  
Not that he means 'cutely sincere' in a gay way or anything...  
Ian almost squirms at the thoughts he can't stop himself from having.  
"Maybe sometimes I do..." The other boy solely admits...  
Lip has been insisting since _day_ one, and Mandy day _two_ , that Ian is in _total_ denial about his sexuality. Even _Karen_ has caught on, and _she_ couldn't get him _hard._ Joey keeps demanding that Mickey crack him. Ian _seems_ pretty gay to him, and they _are_ starting out as friends. Right?  
Except what if he only _seems_ gay to Mickey because he so badly _wants_ him to be? They barely know one another. Why would he _say_ that?! There is _nothing_ friendly about what he just said, and _not_ in a less than friendly way. In a _more_ than friendly way. _Too_ friendly. _Romantically_ friendly. That's a thing, right?  
But, of course, while Ian may be gay himself and is still refusing to admit so, his gaydar doesn't work for shit. So, as far as _this_ whole thing goes, Mickey's sexuality is nothing but a mystery to him.  
He giggles out, overly flattered and almost breathless, not even noticing the redness seeped into Mickey's cheeks, but feeling the redness that does sink into his own.  
'This is good. This is _good_ , right? He should be catching on by now! I'm gay for him!' Mickey's hoping profoundly in his head.  
But alas, he's not.  
Ian may be in denial about being gay for Mickey, but it doesn't even _occur_ to him that Mickey could ever be gay for him.  
At least he's getting _somewhere_ , right...? There's a difference between being in denial about something while knowing it's true, and not believing that that particular thing is true at _all._  
Fiona peeks out her head at the sight, getting impatient waiting for the inker to finish tatting a simple goddamn triangle on Lip's chest.  
"Thank you...Uh, y-you're one too, Mick." He admits in all smiles and sounding a nervous laugh.  
Though only knowing him for three to four days, he's aware that Mickey is almost _definitely_ the perfect combination of a badass and a sweetheart.  
He can't tell if he's either hard on the outside and soft on the inside, or soft on the outside and hard on the inside. A mixture of both, perhaps.  
Yeah. That's it...  
He laughs at the look of uncertainty on Mickey's face; the little frown and the crinkle in his forehead.  
While he thinks almost perfected things about Ian, he sure can't say those things for himself.  
But Ian can.  
Face returning lighthearted in response to the other boy's own adorable expression, Mickey sure as hell can't not laugh along with him.  
Head still peeked out in eagerness, Fiona smiles ear to ear at the simple sight that means so much more below the surface.  
She's being whipped back in the parlor with a yelp, by serenader Joey here, who pulls her in close with his hands placed upon her sides.  
"Ya know, I've always found tattoo parlors pretty romantic."  
The four other teenagers standing by all snicker at his next and certainly not last attempt.  
Meanwhile, Mick and Ian's moment is also ruined, their confused young faces looking back over in the parlor's direction, trying to find out what the hell had happened.  
"Was that your sister...?" Mickey questions.  
"I think so..." Ian's eyebrows are still raised.  
" _Christ_ , Joey" Mickey breathes angrily, the two boys standing up at once.  
When they walk back into the store standing just inches apart, they're witnessing Joey slip over Lip's shirt which has been abandoned on the floor and fall over onto the hard tile below.  
"Oh!" Fiona turns alert, while everyone else including the inker is laughing.  
"Bitches!" Joe yells from the ground, while Fiona is bending over to help him up.  
"Are you okay?"  
Joey can't tell whether it's the practical concussion or the fact that he's holding hands with her that's keeping him from talking.  
"Uh-" he clears his throat, trying not to focus on the insane amounts of pain sinking into his head while Fiona lets go of him.  
"Y-yeah, I will be. Ya know, you saved my life. How will I ever repay you?" He shows a toothy grin, one of those said teeth now looking possibly chipped.  
Fiona furrows her brow at the sight, trying not to focus on the inconvenience for too long.  
Karen and Mandy both snicker at what he's trying to achieve.  
"By not being so obsessed with me," she smirks, everyone else but Joe laughing again.  
"But it'll just be _so_ hard..."  
It's not so easy for Fiona to take his flirting seriously when she's pretty sure one of his top front teeth might be falling out soon.  
She grins at him anyway.  
"Alright! It is done," the inker completes his job, spinning around the chair for Lip's very own display.  
While the younger girls are fascinated, the others aren't so impressed. "Really Lip? A triangle? _Really?"_ Mick gives him a semi serious glare, arms crossing before his chest.  
In response, Lip clicks his tongue towards Mick jokingly, and they both laugh.  
At that, Ian's face heats up.  
"And you're _sure_ you're not gonna regret this...?" Fiona checks skeptically.  
"It's just a triangle, Fi'."  
"Alright; here's your killer shirt back," she tosses it back to him while flashing a quick smile to Joey, who almost falls back to the ground all over again.  
Lip's instructed to place on the covering Mickey saw the same crying man wearing on the way in, which is put on prior to his now inside out shirt.  
" _Really_..." Fiona glares at the obviousness.  
He smirks like the smartass he is.  
"We take credit cards only" she's then informed by the artist, and she huffs out of her nose dramatically.  
"Of course..." she goes to reach into her left skinny jeaned pocket.  
After witnessing the payment and Fiona being handed her receipt, Mickey doesn't expect the artist to recall that Lip made it sound like someone else would be going after him. "Alright, who is next?" He claps his hands together.  
Mickey's pupils practically shrink away. "Uhhh...."  
It doesn't help that everyone in the room is now staring at him, or that a group of people are just now walking into the place to witness the situation.  
"What can I do for you guys today?" The artist asks them.  
"Oh, she's just here to look," the man points to the woman standing beside him.  
Mick breathes a quick sigh of relief.  
"But I can wait," she offers, and again the kid almost lacks eyes.  
"Um...O-o-okay..."  
He feels even worse just knowing that everyone's aware of how much he _doesn't_ want to do this.  
Ian _so_ badly wants to say something, but doesn't want to embarrass him by speaking up either. He knows Mickey is trying to be impressive.  
He just doesn't know he's trying to be impressive towards _him_.  
Again, he may be getting somewhere, but he's not exactly aware of just _everything_. _Yet_.  
If he thinks that Mickey's feelings for him are just friendly-which right now he does-then Mickey must be the friendliest person he's ever _met._  
And somehow, despite his hard shell, he _is_ just about the friendliest person he's ever come across. He's not a person that feels like he has to be friendly with everyone. Half the time, he just wants to kick everyone's ass.  
But with Ian, something is brought out of him. Something insanely intense but beautiful at the same time.  
If only Ian knew the deeper meaning of what he exactly brings out of him. Although he might just be catching on with what exactly Mickey brings out in _him._  
That something being more than he wants it to be.  
"What would you like it to be? Please choose wisely." The artist says.  
"Uh..." He honestly never even thought about that part.  
"Yeah, Mickey, whatcha gonna get; ' _Mom'?_ " Iggy jokes around, bringing Mandy into crisis mode.  
The vibe turns uncomfortable real quick, when everyone around them is witnessing her vulnerability whimpering and already wiping away her tears.  
Scattering out of the room with quick sounds of her high heels, her fading whimpers are now turning into faded cries.  
" _Nice,_ asshole. _Nice."_ Mick scowls at the brother who just had to open his mouth.  
"I'll go check on her." Karen brings up.  
" _You?"_ Everyone else within the group asks in surprise.  
" _Yes_ , me."  
She's already stomping out confidently, almost tripping herself with the lack of one eye.  
"You think we should go out there?" Fiona whispers to Lip.  
"I kinda wanna see what happens..." He leans over towards her.  
"Me too."  
"Well? Have you made decision about what you want?" Mickey is asked.  
"Uhhhh..." the spotlight is on him again, having no control over Ian's adorable eyes that stare right into his figure.  
Sweat pouring down a majority of his body and eyes blinking rapidly, a gulp is sent down his throat.  
Well it's most certainly not gonna be Mom, _that's_ for sure.

Karen finds Mandy sitting across the twenty by forty inch mall floor, up against another glass window of a store just like her brother was, wiping away tears and letting out sniffles.  
"Hey..." Karen approaches over to her, trying not to bump into too many people.  
"The fuck do _you_ want."  
"I wanted to check on you."  
" _Bullshit!_ " The youngest screams so loud that bystanders are taking witness.  
"Listen..." Karen sighs out in hopes of actually achieving something here.  
She sits down, back of their heads both now sitting against the glass window together.  
"I'm sorry you had to see that." This will be the _only_ thing that Mandy will ever be apologizing to her for.  
"It's fine...My M-" She has to stop herself, going as far to put her hand over her mouth.  
Because of that Mandy grows shivers, eyes darkening more and more.  
"I-It's fine...Go on..." She knows what she was getting at.  
"She has this thing called agoraphobia. Can't even leave the house because she's too scared something terrible will happen. I've seen her have too many breakdowns from her anxiety. So, I've seen what it's like from an outsider's perspective. It hurts me to see people go through that..."  
It takes her a few minutes to not only process her words, but the emotion spoken with her words. She could call her a liar. Say she's making it all up and storm off again.  
But right now she thinks she's just gonna go with it.  
"Oh, well...That sucks." She assumes that's why she's a raging beeotch.  
Karen would like to ask about the backstory revolving around her Mom, but knows it'll send her into a worse than before panic.  
"Who helps her?" Mandy questions.  
"She has people come over who she reaches out to, but..." She shrugs.  
"I can only do so much, and my Dad is an asshole who doesn't give a shit." Her nostrils flare reliving the events within her head.  
"Yikes..." Mandy can't see why someone _wouldn't_ take Sheila into their care.  
"He's so _weird_. He doesn't give a shit about his wife,"  
Mandy sees how she purposely avoided the certain 'M' word, and smiles gently. She knows to wipe it away, before it looks like she's smiling at Karen's complaints out of context. Then again, she can only see with one eye.  
"He says he loves me but expects me to act all perfect..." The older girl continues, one visible eye rolling and the other under her eyepatch doing the same.  
"The only thing he cares about are beer, clowns, and Jesus."  
"Wow..." Mandy's eyebrows raise. "That's some combination," she somewhat giggles.  
"I know. And when he's obsessed with a guy like Jesus, you would _think_ he'd be less of an asshole. He's such a _hypocrite._ "  
"Yeah..." Mandy nods awkwardly, remembering the similarities in the story going through her head. "That's why Wendy stopped taking us to church. She was sick of people only being 'God's creation' on Sunday."  
Karen has to stop herself from asking who Wendy is, until coming to the realization that she's their mother. Or perhaps, was. She knows not to ask.  
"So is your Dad, like, an actual clown?" Mandy changes the subject.  
" _Huh?_ " Karen laughs.  
"You said he's obsessed with them; maybe he lives a double life." Mandy grins, and for the first time in history the two girls laugh together.  
"Probably," Karen joins in, enjoying the feeling of knowing she's the cause of Mandy's continued laughter.  
"Um...Are you really into Jaimie?" Mandy decides to bring up.  
"Who? Oh. Right. Uh..." Karen knows the answer is obvious.  
Mandy snickers. "What are we doing with Lip..." She hasn't been a fan of either if their recent behaviors.  
"I don't know..." Karen shamefully admits. "It's ridiculous, honestly. I'm sorry..."  
"Me too..." Mandy's mouth is trying not to gape open at the fact that she was just _apologized_ to.  
"I-I'm sorry too..." she decides to rephrase, wanting to express an actual apology.  
"It's so _stupid_. It's like he enjoys it, you know?" Karen turns skeptical.  
"Yeah. He's leading both of us on while still screwing you."  
"We should just drop him completely. I'm done fucking him." Karen decides.  
"Fine by me," Mandy laughs, and Karen giggles at her grin.  
"Cool."  
They high five on it. And it doesn't purposely hurt this time.  
"We should probably get back." Karen suggests in a warm smile.  
"You think Mick's getting his tattoo?" Mandy asks as they both stand up.  
"Maybe," they start walking back towards the parlor. "I doubt it'll be anything too extreme."  
"Am I the only one who thinks his crush on Ian is extremely adorable?" Karen smiles, keeping her tone hushed.  
"He's practically his lord and savior."  
They laugh the rest of the way there, especially when Mandy has to keep Karen and her partial eyesight from falling to the ground.  
Now standing right in the entrance, they're confusingly witnessing Mickey in fact sitting in the chair with both fists out, boldly stating "I want 'fuck you up' on my knuckles. 'Fuck' on my left knuckles, and 'you up' on the lefts. Just spell 'you' as 'u' though. And put a dash in between the 'u' and 'up'. Nothing on my thumbs 'cause that's gay. Black ink."  
He explains as best as he can, trying not to leave out any key points.  
It took him almost a good ten minutes to actually choose what he wanted to get inked, but he must admit it was mostly stalling. He's good at that.  
"Holy _shit._ " Karen whispers to Mandy shock.  
Everyone else doesn't really know what to say about Mickey's choice of art.  
An astounded Fiona looks at her brothers, who only shrug and scoff. What can you do? For crying out loud, it's Mickey _Milkovich_. Sensitive, loving, badass, wanting so badly to impress his crush while also slightly intimidating him, Mickey Milkovich.  
"I must make it quick 'cause it's almost five thirty." He's informed.  
"Yeah yeah just do it..." Maybe the faster it happens the less painful it'll be. His heart is already racing and dropped stomach is already nauseous. He doesn't need to be puking all over the artist's shoes.  
The buzz of the needle does not ease his spirits. The walls might as well be closing him the closer the needle is brought to his skin. Knuckles now shaking and skin leaking with sweat, he's feeling so nauseous he might just faint right in that damn chair.  
It feels almost all too familiar.  
He was seven. Terry had arrived home dead sober for once in his life. Wendy had taken Mandy to swimming lessons, while the other boys were at Wendy's cousin's that simple summer day.  
It didn't end simple for the child who was minding his own business, home alone, until their abusive father showed up.  
He wasn't punished because he did anything wrong, or ran his mouth.  
He was punished for the sake of punishment, and to be scared shitless. And oh, did it work.  
If he moved one inch from the recliner chair he was sitting in, the chair that had thankfully gotten lost in the process of moving, he was hit. If he shook, flinched, or jumped, he was hit. If he showed fear. Discomfort, or any emotion. His seven year old-self was told to take it like a man. Not to black out. To stop his crying. His throat was choked if he made too much noise. The coughs he sounded when he could finally breathe again got him slapped.  
Wendy had to walk through the door to see her youngest and now barely recognizable son with a purple bruised and red blooded face. She was beat that night too. Harder. Mickey, a seven year-old, had wished to himself that he would have been beaten to death, if it meant that his mother never received a slap.  
But knowing Terry, he knew that she would have been hurt regardless.  
Mickey's tired of being hurt.  
"I can't do this." A suck of breath brings him back into reality, barely able to feel his legs that lift him out of the chair and run him out of the parlor. The middle schooled girls are pushed passed, left in hesitance and aftershock.  
The buzzing stops, but not the one within Mickey's ears.  
It takes a few seconds for the rest of the group to all grow out of their hesitance, and rush out to Mickey who's now fragilely throwing up a puddle in the middle of the floor from five feet away. Fiona cringes in pity while biting her bottom lip. Karen's glad she's wearing an eyepatch.  
The Gallagher brothers stand side by side, keeping to themselves while watching with sorry looks, and the Milkovich siblings watch in awe.  
A nearby child makes a loud grossed out exclaim, causing a cleared stomach but uncleared head Mick to pop up straight, wiping his mouth while his eyes shine with possible upcoming tears.  
'Don't cry. You're already too much of a fucking pussy. This is why Dad wouldn't let you leave that chair. You should've choked on your own fucking vomit.' He's mentally degrading himself, wiping his eyes to stop the tears from flowing at all.  
" _Hey."_ A maybe too concerned Lip is the one who has courage to spin him in their direction and grab his shoulders.  
"You alright?" He speaks with needed seriousness.  
Eyes falling back to the floor after a few seconds of ashamed eye contact, Mickey might as well have a bunch of dry cement within his throat. Ian wants to so badly do something, anything, to show comfort. But like Mickey, he cannot speak, too nervous with millions of plans to what he could say, do, say then do or do then say, zapping through his head. He hasn't thought this frantically in a long time.  
"What the _fuck_ , kid?" A nearby male employee from the store next door stomps up to them  
with spread arms, glaring right at the boy with a scowl in his eyes.  
"Do you know how _long_ it's gonna take for someone to clean that shit up?"  
Fiona's first Mom instinct is to curse the fucker out, but Ian's already on it.  
"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's really fucking necessary for you to be acting like a _dick_."  
Not only does this give Mickey a small smile on his face, but a major fucking confident boost. And vocally so is just the start.  
" _You say shit like that instead of doing your damn job and I'll make sure you slip on my hurl and crack your fucking head on the floor_." He's holding him by his shirt just inches apart from his face, which Ian can't help but admit he'd enjoy himself.  
'Holy shit was that just a gay thought?' He thinks to himself.  
Yup. And they're only gonna get gayer, sweet stuff.  
A few of the same, and now different strangers, are surrounding and gazing their way. Everyone's too appalled to do anything about the sight, which is almost the best part.  
" _Mickey!_ " Fiona feels that threat is a little far fetched.  
"I'm not your slave, bitch." Mick is growled to like a mutt.  
Now out of his hold, he's being shoved back more than a few inches.  
"Right now you are. Get the fuck _to_ it, Cinderella." The fourteen year-old smirks with pride.  
Lip has to do all he can to not alert the entire building with a well needed guffaw.  
The finger that Mick receives from the man is nothing, eyebrows raised sharply and arms crossed, witnessing him walk away.  
"Uhhh, I call cleanup? I can still give you tattoo after five thirty appointment." The tattoo artist shows up five feet away from them all.  
"My name is Damon." He informs.  
"Fuck off, Damon," Mickey breathes out exasperatedly, deciding to take off in the left direction and purposely stepping through his liquids on the way.  
Mandy almost throws up herself, hearing the noises his shoes make stepping within the puddle.  
"Mick!" Ian calls out with hope.  
He doesn't know where he's headed off to and how long he'll be there, but what the other boy _does_ know is that he wants a pack of smokes and a good inhaling into his already damaged lungs.  
Ian's call gayly sends a flutter of butterflies into his heart, but also encourages him to keep walking.  
He would stay if he saw the crushed expression on the freckled kid's face.  
And everyone's else's.

It takes almost a half hour for Ian and Lip to find Mickey, but when they finally do, he's smoking a cigarette from the pack he got away with stealing, standing on the far right patio grounded exit of the building, dumpster a few feet behind them, and standing right under where the no smoking sign is held.  
"Hey, Mick..." Lip's the one to start out.  
"The _fuck_ do you guys want," he doesn't even look at them.  
He's not flustered, or spazzy around Ian like he usually-okay always-is. This time he's simply ashamed. Ashamed to face him because he threw up like a goddam _pussy_.  
Ian's hurt to see him act like this. There's pain in his eye that's more than visible to Lip's very own.  
Unfortunately Mickey isn't looking at him like he usually is, to see it. Because he's hurt too.  
"Um..." Lip picks up on the discomfort throughout the air.  
"Everyone else is waiting inside. Fiona's gotta make up for her shift. Say goodbyes, 'kay Ian?" He pats his shoulder to get him to look at him and to stop staring at Mickey like it's his job.  
Mickey is trying even harder to not look back. He doesn't want Ian to leave him just yet.  
Or at all, really.  
No matter how ashamed, embarrassed, or awkward he feels around him right now, he doesn't want him gone. He'll always want him around.  
Ian thinks it's an angry isolation, when in reality Mickey's smashed heart is sinking inside his chest. The smoke isn't helping the tears he's trying to keep away.  
"Bye, Mick..." Lip stares over at him solemnly, hoping that blinking would somehow change things for them. Change feelings; change time.  
But the only thing he can really do to change things right now, is to leave Ian and Mickey alone.  
Despite still wanting to talk with Mickey, he knows a conversation with Ian is more important right now. Especially if he won't admit he wants it.  
If there was anything else in Mickey's stomach, he would throw up all over again; hearing the sound of the door closing that now has Lip behind it. His faded footsteps walking further and further away sends the cigarette shaking out of his hand.  
"Hey," Ian finally approaches him, stepping just a few inches from his finger.  
"H-hey..." again with the stuttering. Mick faces him with concern and more embarrassment.  
"Uh," Ian can't believe this palms are growing sweaty during a conversation with Mickey Milkovich. They're folded together anxiously.  
"You didn't really wanna get that tattoo, did you..." His shoulders shrug casually.  
Mickey can't look away from the causality in his eyes.  
"Uh-uh-" he's already scrambling for an excuse. "I-I-don't know--"  
" _Dude,_ it's okay." Ian stops him with a warm smile. Mick's eyes might pop out of his head. What is this warm gesture he's receiving?  
"I, I guess--" Mickey has to clear his damn throat and look away for a quick moment to keep his cool.  
"I guess I was just trying to impress you..." His eyes that have converted to innocence decide to look up into his right at this time.  
"Impress _me?_ " Ian's baffled. What is this, Opposite Day?  
One of the most interesting people he's ever met in his short life, someone who he wishes he could be more like, _Mickey_ _Milkovich,_ was trying to impress _him?_ Is this whole bad boy thing an _image?_ If so, why would he want to keep it convincing for _Ian?_  
Holy _shit._ "You don't need to impress me."  
"I _don't?_ " Both the boys are making new discoveries today.  
" _No,_ " Ian almost laughs at his wonder.  
"You probably think I'm such a freak..." It comes out in a breath, Mickey hastily looking down and pushing back his hair.  
" _You_ a _freak?_ What the hell _else_ did you throw up?" Ian giggles.  
"Y---y-you don't think I'm-"  
" _No_." Ian's now choosing to be assertive. "You almost got one the freakin' awesomest tattoos _ever_. _Certainly_ better than Lip's chest _triangle._ " He laughs at the image replaying in his head.  
"But I didn't..." Mickey's still glad he approves of his winged thoughts, giggling slightly at the mention of Lip's art.  
"You still tried," Mickey can't not smile back at the grin on Ian's face.  
There's a long pause in the air, giving Mickey the perfect opportunity to bring up something else.  
"You want one?" He offers him a cigarette.  
"Oh, um, maybe..." Ian doesn't actually want to, but will consider it for him.  
"Dude you don't _have_  to." Mick can see the flushed look on his face and hesitance in his eyes.  
"Sorry" he giggles out, embarrassed that he even tried.  
"I'm _glad_ , actually. You don't need that shit for your lungs."  
"Y-yeah yeah I don't think I could handle it..." Ian is awkwardly scratching the back of his sweaty neck.  
" _Shit._ When I'm stressed I smoke up to two packs a _day._ Surprised my lungs haven't fuckin' given _out_ on me yet."  
Ian has the perfect response to that.  
"You're a superhuman." The smile on his face is sheepish.  
If Mickey currently had any smoke on his lungs, he would be coughing it all right up. His throat is disallowing him from speaking; and body from moving.  
The only thing that's sure as shit moving is his heart. His high speed chase, on the run, heart.  
Ian's never felt prouder of himself when he finally cracks a smile out of the other boy.  
The superhuman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kandy...?  
> You made it to the end! Yay! Remember to leave comments! Please! Please leave comments telling me your thoughts!!!!! It's so important!  
> Also, if you want to, you can follow my tumblr heyoricohannah to leave me asks that consist of questions, fic requests, prompts and ect.!!!


	8. Family Values

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian's feeling grow more obvious to everyone else but his and Mickey's oblivious in-denial asses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you get something out of this. Comment what you thought! Mary Ellen is the only one that's been commenting so shout out to her. Over 1.2k reads!!! Ahhh!

Back within the less crowded mall that has thankfully and mostly died down, Fiona, Lip and the older Milkovich brothers can't believe what they're seeing.  
Mandy and Karen are actually _getting along._  
"This is weird..." Fiona leans over in her seated food court court chair over to Lip, whispering to him at their table.  
From fifteen feet away, the two of them, and the three Milkovich brothers who sit across from them, witness Karen and Mandy engaging in a friendly conversion. What they're talking about is a mystery, but what isn't hard to make out are the smiles on their faces.  
"Is it weird that I think it's kinda hot...?" Lip whispers back, receiving some well deserved glares in response.  
"What?" He whispers in defense, returning a frown and spreading his arms.  
"Obsessive freak," Joey comments towards him, only to immediately afterwards ask Fiona which kind of shampoo she uses.  
"Where are the boys?" She purposely ignores the discomfort of his question, looking around for just two of the many brothers in the group.  
"Betcha Mickey finally cracked him," Joey mutters, not having some very clean thoughts.  
"What?" Iggy and Jaimie wonder together, having no idea about the gayness that's been occurring in everyone's lives for the past few days.  
Conversation ending, Karen and Mandy walk over right in front of them right on time to hear Joey spaz out  
"Nothing. Shut up!" He's usually not good under pressure, the clear suspicion in his voice having Lip and Fiona roll their eyes at him.  
Iggy and Jaimie are too lazy to question it right now.  
Speaking of the gayness that's been going on, Ian and Mickey come walking over towards them, standing noticeably close together, but not so noticeable to Ian himself.  
He's the one that stepped closer to him; making first moves that don't even signal to his brain due to such denial.  
At this point in time, he could _kiss Mickey on the lips_ -which he won't let himself admit that he sometimes wants to-and claim that it's _just_ platonic.  
Basically, his crush is most _definitely_ forming; he just won't let himself realize it. And anytime he lets himself think about the truth just a _tiny_ bit, he wants to cleanse himself straight.  
Not because it's Mickey Milkovich; well, okay _because_ it _is_ Mickey Milkovich, but that's not meant in a _bad_ way. _At all._  
It's because it's _gay._ And Mickey Milkovich just _isn't_ that kind of guy.  
At least that's what he keeps telling himself because the possibility of actual rejection is _soul crushing._  
His actual definition of rejection being that Mickey is just simply straight.  
He'd take Mickey being into some girl over Mickey being into some guy that _isn't him_ any day.  
Then again, the possibility that he _could_ just fall for him one day while blindly dating some other guy, gives Ian _way_ better chances than if Mickey _was_ just straight, something that not even Ian could change.  
Yes, seeing him with someone else would hurt, but knowing that he _was_ gay and could potentially fall for him would make the _whole_ thing worth it.  
Oh, why is he even _thinking about this shit?!_ It's _not_ gonna happen. Even if he-he being Ian- _was_ gay, why would Mickey Milkovich go for _him?!_  
"Ian." Fiona interrupts his rather gay thoughts.  
"Yeah?"  
He blushes at not only the fact that everyone else has been staring at him this entire time, but because one of those people in that same group of everyone else includes Mickey.  
"You ready?" Asks Lip.  
"Oh, uh, yeah..." He's disappointed to he leaving Mickey, but know he will see him after the weekend's finishes.  
The weekend can't seem to go by fast enough.  
He can sense the eyes Mickey are giving him, trying to figure out whether they're sad, intrigued, or both, without looking back.  
"See ya Mick." He finally does.  
"Bye..."  
Mick.  
Mick, holds up their right hand awkwardly, and their sweaty palms high five one another.  
"You got a cell?" Lip figures that if Ian's too much of a pussy to ask for Mickey'a phone number then he might as well do it for him.  
"My last one broke from being thrown against a wall."  
Ian's eyebrows raise, but on his face a tiny smile still appears.  
Fiona knows she shouldn't be so surprised.  
What's sad is that everyone in the group who isn't a Milkovich is assuming that Mickey did it himself, when in reality it was Terry from another drunken rampage.  
It was the youngest brother's first ever real phone; not that it was anything special. It was a flip phone from two thousand six that one of siblings could have easily broken in half to get a rise out of him.  
But they knew better than to do that no matter how mad they would all get at one another, because ever since their mother passed on, they knew all they had are each other.  
Fast forward to today, and that might not be the entire truth anymore.  
"We have a wall phone," Jaimie suggests, referring to one in the kitchen that's been yanked too many times.  
"Can't guarantee it still works though" Iggy adds, recalling that the phone bill has most likely not been paid.  
The only thing Terry does to make a quick buck is sell blow or gamble; not that he uses it for necessaries or goods, and his own children can only steal so much.  
When it comes to paying for what's needed more so the fittest can at least survive, they'll take heat and gas over phone services or television any day.  
Fiona knew she should have never underestimated their living situation.  
It was clear from the start that they were financially poor, even worse than her own family.  
She considers saying something, but knows not to push it too far.  
"What's the number" Jaimie asks Iggy blandly.  
"I don't fuckin' know,"  
Mandy groans loudly and irritably at their lack of knowledge, asserting to the Gallagher's "One of you give me your phones."  
Ian does as told with redness on his face and a shaking arm, which Mickey's eyes don't like witnessing.  
On the bright side, this means that-if the phone still even works which it now fucking better-Ian could call, and specifically talk to him. The high lasts for a second, until he instantly grows nauseous at how fucking retarded he would act in a phone conversation with _Ian_ _Gallagher._  
He could only imagine. Which he doesn't _want_ _to_.  
After the memorized phone number's been typed in and Ian's phone is handed back to him, Lip seizes this as on opportunity to throw his charm on.  
"Wanna put your number in my cell too?" He speaks slyly, walking over right next to her and touching her side.  
Her hand is bending back his fingers in a spilt second.  
" _Owe_ _owe_ _owe_ _what_ the _hell?_ " He takes this a sign to abort his mission.  
" _Save_ _it_ , asshole." She snaps, getting surprised reactions from the other two Gallagher's. Though they can't say they're not entertained. Same goes for everyone else. Ian is doing what he can to not laugh, which brings a smile across Mickey's face.  
"We're done with you." Karen, who's standing Mandy's left, states to Lip boldly with crossed arms and fierce eyebrows.  
" _Why?"_ He cringes.  
"Because you're an _asshole_ and a _fuckboy._ " She clarifies.  
" _What?_ That is _so_ _not_ _true--_ "  
But Fiona and Ian aren't the ones that can exactly defend him on this one. Neither can anyone else, for that matter.  
"Do you _agree_ with them?" His last chance is Mickey, who's declaring no involvement.  
"I am _not_ getting into this..." He doesn't like the death glare Mandy is giving him.  
"Guys come on I _am_ _not-_ "  
"Hey..." Two boys, one looking to be a bit older, and one to be around his and Mick's age, interrupt Lip by approaching both Karen and Mandy.  
All her brothers, and Lip, all tense up and straighten their posture.  
The oldest stranger is staring directly at Karen, while the younger one is gazing at Mandy.  
"You wanna go to the food court with us?" The oldest offers.  
Lip frowns.  
" _What?_ " Iggy cringes at the idea.  
"Sure," Karen smirks at him, shrugging her shoulders.  
"Alright," Mandy doesn't see why not, as long as she doesn't have to do any sexual favors for the older one with the long hair.  
" _Mandy!_ " Mickey yells.  
"I'll be home later." She looks over at him blandly.  
"You don't even _know_ these sons of bitches," says Jaimie.  
" _So?_ We can handle ourselves." She defends.  
"If I can handle getting scratched in the eye with a rake," she glares at Lip. "I can handle _anything._ " Karen decides.  
"What the _fuck_ does that mean?!" Joey's bewildered, he and everyone else not wanting to imagine what she's getting at.  
"Whatever. Let's go." She smiles over at the one interested in her.  
"Sweet," the older one smiles, and the four of them are waking off.  
"Be home for dinner...!" Mickey shallowly reminds.  
'Dinner' being 'before Dad gets home and doesn't hit you more than usual because you were late.'  
It's a Milkovich thing.  
A sad, sad, Milkovich thing.  
On the way home, Fiona has to listen to Lip's bitching about how the girls rightfully stood up for themselves, and witness Ian's visible anxiety and sweaty hand wringing due to everything he's starting to realize.  
"Ian you okay?" His identity crisis and mental health problems are more important than the other brother's first world pretty people problems.

"Ian!" Lip's calling out to him two hours later around six thirty, walking down the hallway that leads to their room, mistakingly flinging the unlocked door open without one knock.  
" _Jesus!_ " He yells, only needing to see his pubescent brother sitting on their own bed with his hand down his bulged pants for one second to know what they're doing.  
He doesn't have to be looking at him to sense the humiliation and fury on Ian's face.  
"Ever hear of _fucking_ _knocking?!_ "  
Lip figures he can uncover his eyes now that he's being yelled at.  
"' _Not_ sexually developed yet', huh?!" He yells in recall to what Ian claimed to him earlier.  
" _Leave!_ " Ian has to blink back humiliated tears.  
"I 'came' in here to tell you that dinner's ready, but, you see I don't think I can eat now with that image burned into my brain."  
" _JUST_ _GET_ _OUT,_ _LIP!_ _LEAVE!"_ Ian's gone to chucking his pillow far past him for it to hit the wall.  
Fiona and the rest of the kids including Liam, look up the staircase from where they sit at the kitchen table.  
The oldest daughter of the house pays stern attention, hearing the door slam and Lip's stomping footsteps down into the room.  
"Ooh, spaghetti." His mind does a complete three sixty, sitting down next to Liam's high chair and focusing on his food.  
" _What'd_ you say to Ian? Where is he?" Fiona's not going to ignore that something obviously just happened upstairs.  
"Masturbating."  
She had taken her first bite of food too soon; now coughing it up intensely and having to stop the fit with her ice water.  
Instead of covering Carl or Debbie's ears, she decides to cover Liam's, considering _he's_ the one that has a habit of overly repeating words he overhears.  
"What's masturbating?" Carl asks after a few quiet seconds.  
Noticing Liam's opening his mouth, Fiona goes to cover it. There's a cringe on her face and nausea in her stomach.  
"Can I say a prayer?" Debbie requests.  
"Please."  
Fiona's never been particularly religious, but after what just took place, she feels that right now they're all gonna need one.

Mandy doesn't come happily springing into the Milkovich household until seven p.m, not matching her brothers' moods that consist of angst, anxiety and worry.  
"Where the hell _were_ you," Joey demands, he and the three other boys sternly surrounding the smiling girl in their kitchen.  
"With Karen in the guys; _chill!_ " Her smile is replaced with a grimace.  
" _Excuse_ _us_ for _giving_ _a_ _shit_. We thought you got _taken!_ Or _worse!_ That girly haired fuck looked shady as _shit._ " Mickey grills. "What does he _have_ , an _eyepatch_ _fetish?_ " His forehead crinkles.  
"That 'girly haired fuck' is Jody and he's _only_ nineteen. Karen's really into him."  
"Yeah and I'm sure he's _really_ into her," Iggy rolls his eyes; he and the other guys assuming a guy going after a girl like that only has one thing on his mind.  
It's not that it's the only thing on his mind; it just happens to be on his mind _a_ _lot_.  
What the girls are yet to know is that Jody is a full blown sex addict.  
_That's_ not even the biggest bombshell.  
"Whatever. At least it's not you. What about the other guy?" Jaime frowns.  
"His name's Trevor. He's awesome. He gave me his number." Mandy grins holding up her right palm, showing the pen written set of numbers.  
" _Gross._ " Joey says.  
"It's not _gross;_ it's sweet! You're just bitter because Fiona Gallagher will never go out with you." She heads for insulting.  
" _DON'T_ _SAY_ _ANYTHING_ _ABOUT_ _FIONA_ _GALLAGHER!_ "  
The siblings of the deranged hormone shaken Joey all roll their eyes.

Back at the Gallagher's, Ian was hoping to avoid his family at all costs, until Fiona comes stepping into his room after a few knocks, after dinner's been short lived.  
"You hungry? I made spaghetti," she tries to cheer him up and steer him away from the awkwardness, about to sit down next to him on his bed.  
She's made sure that Lip is watching the little ones downstairs, so none of them would be disrupting their encounter.  
"Uh, I wouldn't sit there..." Ian points out awkwardly.  
"Right. Sorry." Fiona's doing her best to not scrunch up her face in disgust, sitting closer to him and farther from the stain.  
"Lip told me what happened."  
" _Ugh_ , he _did?_ " Ian would rather cut off each and every one of his fingers one by one instead of talk about this.  
"Like, _ninety_ _nine_ _point_ _nine_ percent of guys your age and up do it, Ian. There's nothing wrong with self pleasure."  
"Yeah..." He enjoys how she's approaching the topic, but would still rather bite off one finger and spit it out on the carpet, at this point.  
"Wanna know a secret? Girls do it too." Fiona whispers it as if that's what it's supposed to be--a secret.  
"Like, a lot of girls?" Ian's gay ass isn't very knowledgeable on girls relating to sexual topics.  
"Yup. Some even enjoy it as much as guys." She flicks her eyebrows jokingly, and Ian laughs.  
"Thanks for telling me this, I guess...?" He giggles, and Fiona stands up with a scoff.  
"No problem. I'll wash your comforter later tonight. I'm picking up a late shift, alright?" She's walking out the door.  
"Okay."  
"Love you."  
"Love you too, Fiona."  
When the door's closed, Ian plops back down onto the bed and stares up at the ceiling.  
Not to jerk off, but to worriedly think about who he was thinking about while previously jerking off.  
Getting up and walking over to his homework desk with the help of the crutch that was under his bed, he reaches for his phone and flips it open, going to his contacts to find the number that Mandy had given him.  
But Mandy isn't the person he's hoping will pick up.  
Instead of one ring, it goes straight to a robotic audio messaging saying that the number has been disconnected.

" _Dammit!_ " Mandy screams, her brothers jumping at the sound and sight of her slamming the only wall phone that doesn't work for shit, back on its crappy receiver.  
"Why the hell isn't it working?" Iggy asks.  
"I don't _know,_ jackhole. Maybe it's because it got turned off because the bill hasn't been paid for the last three months!" She hollers.  
"Call the phone company," says Jaimie.  
" _I_ _WILL_ _TAKE_ _THIS_ _PHONE_ _CORD_ _AND_ _WRAP_ _IT_ _AROUND_ _YOUR_ _NECK!"_ She takes it off the receiver for threatening, and Mickey has to be the voice of reason here.  
"Alright, alright, alright! There's _gotta_ be some sort of information on the bill about the company. We get the money, and bring it to them."  
"How are we gonna find the _bill,_ stupid." Asks Iggy.  
"We look for it, stupid. Then we gotta round up the money."  
"Why would they charge us if we haven't been using it?" Jaimie frowns.  
"Because that's just how it works. And I'm sure there's a bunch of late fees too," Mandy answers him. "It's been months. So it's gonna be a lot."  
One long pause after another, and Mickey's ready to jump his lazy, standing still, looking around brothers.  
" _What_ _are_ _you_ _just_ _standing_ _there_ _for_ ; _fucking_ _go!_ " He screams.  
His demand sends them all into a go.  
So that's what they do. They tear apart the place and turn the house upside down; turn the house inside out.  
They check under each bed, in every drawer, anywhere where trash is stored-which is in a lot of places-and more, until a sweaty and grimy Mickey finally finds the crumpled piece of paper that was sent to them at the end of October, under the couch cushion after a hectic fifty two minutes of searching.  
How it had gotten under there will remain a mystery.  
"Four hundred and seventy three _dollars?!"_ Jaimie yells at the price he drags on the paper, them all now surrounded at the kitchen table.  
"What do you _expect,_ asshole. It's been _months._ _And_ all the late fees." Mandy snaps.  
"It's a fucking _wall_ _phone!"_  
"It doesn't _matter!_ "  
"Alright. We'll rob that bakery downtown. Let's go." Jaimie decides.  
"No. I...I found something in Dad's closet..." Mandy reveals hesitantly. Shyly.  
"What?"  
"Holy _shit._ " Neither Mickey, or anyone else, can believe the sight of the wads and wads of cash stashed on the carpeted floor of Terry's two door closet.  
"You know we're not allowed in here..." Iggy nervously reminds.  
"Yeah well now we know _why!_ Holy _shit_!" Joey goes to touch a bill, but his hand is smacked away. " _Don't_ touch it. Do you know what would _happen_ if he noticed any of this shit was gone?"  
Iggy orders.  
"Oh, he's too _drunk_ _and_ _old_ to remember _shit."_ Says Mick.  
" _What_ would he need all this for?" Mandy is still wondering.  
"What do you _think?_ Booze, drugs, joints..."  
They know Terry would never use this kind of money for something _sophisticated_.  
Meanwhile, his children that _aren't_ mostly brain dead, are just going to have to.  
"We got any other bills we need to pay...?" Mickey wonders.  
They all look at each other skeptically.

By the end of the night, the phone bill isn't the only thing that's been paid. With all that damn money they found, they had enough to pay for gas, electric, water, and the mortgage.  
And it only took a quick trip down to their local participating agent location.  
They also stopped at the supermarket to get a few TV dinners.  
Mickey returns inside from placing the cash filled envelope that will pay most of their taxes within their practically smashed mailbox, to see Mandy happily talking on the wall phone that does now work.  
"Yeah, sorry I called so late..." She's all smiles.  
Squinting suspiciously, Mickey crosses his arms and walks forward.  
"Yeah, things are okay now."  
A pause.  
He knows he can hear a voice coming from the other line, but can't make out what they're saying for the life of him.  
He decides he's had enough and leaves irritably, when she bellows out a laugh that has him jump.  
"How _long_ is she gonna talk to that guy?" He complains to the others, entering their room and lighting the nearest cigarette he can find. He slams the door behind them.  
"A while," says Iggy.  
" _Ugh._ " Mickey's eyes roll.  
"I'm just glad we finally found money to _pay_ for some stuff" Jaimie admits.  
"Yeah; _Dad's_ money. You _know_ we're in for a _ton_ of shit, right?" Mickey points out.  
"Would he rather us be _evicted?"_ Jaimie defends their actions.  
"True, I guess...So you think this Trenton thing is for real?" He's already forgotten his name.  
"To be fair, this _does_ seem like the first guy she's actually into, and not just some ploy for manipulation." Joey comments.  
"That's _worse!_ It's _weird!"_ Mickey claims. "She's thirteen." He adds.  
"Don't _act_ like you weren't even gonna get that tattoo if it weren't for your ridiculous lie to Ian" Joey sasses, and Mickey flips him off while releasing a huff.  
"Wait, you like that freckle headed kid?" Iggy isn't exactly one to catch on right away.  
"If you haven't figured that out by now then you're retarded." Mickey figures there's no more point in hiding it by now.  
"Yeah well I'd rather be _retarded_ than a faggot!" Iggy yells, and Mickey goes over and elbows his face.  
" _Owe!"_  
"That's what you _get,_ bitch! And he's not a ' _freckle head'_ you idiot."  
"Wait so you _are_ gay?" Joey wants clarification.  
"No, dumbass, I wanna be discriminated against for the fun of it. Want me to draw a fucking picture?!"  
Feeling highly entertained by all of this, Joey smiles.  
"I'd like to see that," a fat lipped Iggy comments, leading him to be elbowed again.  
" _STOP THAT, RETARD!"  
"FAGGOT!"_ The insults are reversed, and Jaime frowns.  
"Wait."  
"You _are_ a fucking retard; you got the names mixed up!" Mickey yells to Ig'.  
"Fuck you!"  
"You're both retardation faggots!" Joey yells, and the two brothers are yelling right at him.  
" _MICKEY'S GAY, CAN WE JUST MOVE ON?!"_ Jaimie shouts.  
" _GUYS SHUT UP I'M TRYING TO TALK TO TREVOR!!"_ Mandy hollers to them from the other room.  
"I thought his name was Trenton," Mickey says to himself.  
"Retard."  
He then threatens to shove his lit cigarette up Iggy's ass.

Lip's glad to walk into their room unannounced again, to see that Ian is simply laying in his bed with his hand _not_ down his pants, and instead holding his phone and again distractingly looking up at the ceiling.  
"Post masturbation blues?"  
"What?" Ian cringes at him.  
"Fiona went in to work. Debbie's letting Liam sleep in a drawer."  
"Why..."  
"Because he _fits_ and she _wants_ him to." Apparently this concept isn't new.  
Ian frowns at his freshness.  
"Okay..."  
He sits up, blankly staring down at the phone in which he holds.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing..." He mutters, hesitantly looking up. A long pause surpasses, and Lip is waiting for him to fess.  
"Uh, I tried calling Mickey. Well, his family. Their house." He doesn't want it sound like he was calling _specifically_ for Mickey, which his gay ass was.  
"They said it probably doesn't work," Lip reminds, walking over to sit down with him.  
"Don't sit there."  
"Ew," Lip does as told, and Ian scoffs embarrassingly.  
"Yeah..." He responds to what he was told, staring at the phone again.  
"I'm gonna call again."  
" _What?_ "  
"I just want to see if it's really disconnected."  
"Dumbass. Can I call you dumbass? If the phone was disconnected when you last called _ten minutes ago,_ then it's _probably_ gonna be disconnected now."  
"Shut up!" Ian yells, already dialing the number.  
To his luck and surprise, the ringing turns into an automated voice messaging system.  
Mandy, on the other hand, ignores the other call coming in on the other line, too busy talking up a storm to Trevor.  
The beep makes Ian's heart jump. He looks to Lip with desperate eyes, not having an idea of what to say.  
His brother who doesn't exactly know much shit about this either, turns to nodding his head and eagerly gesturing his hands, which _doesn't_ help Ian's pressure.  
"Uhhhh hey Mickey, uhhh call me back if you get this message, o-or don't, it's fine."  
Lip has to squeeze the bedspread to not laugh.  
"But, ummm...Yeah, just wanted to know what's up...Bye."  
He hangs up faster than you can say 'gay for Milkovich.'  
Lip'a given up on trying not to laugh. In fact, he's laughing so hard and loud, that tainted tears are coming out of his eyes and going down his face, a hand clutching to his stomach.  
" _Shut up!_ I-I've never _talked_ to someone from school on the phone before this is _new for me."_ Ian covers it up like usual. But soon he won't feel like he has to.  
Lip quiets down, hearing that particular excuse.  
"So _that's_ all he is, 'someone from school'?"  
"N-no, I just--" Ian's now blushing a deep shade of red. "Why am I _acting_ like this?" His sexuality is suddenly rocket science, and Lip's eyes almost pop out of his head.  
" _Gayyyy!_ " Leave it to Liam to scream the answer from downstairs.  
"Liam! Be _quiet!_ I'm trying to watch!" Carl's referring to rather violent movie displayed for him on the living room television.  
Lip scoffs at Ian cockily, seeing the look of denial and insecurity on his face.  
"I'm gonna go try to figure out how to put parental controls on Carl'a favorite channels..." He stands up, and seeing that Ian's grown more noticeably broken and damaged by the millisecond, he ruffles his hair as a light gesture, before leaving the room.  
While Lip may had been previously crying tears of laughter, Ian is now crying sad ones.

It's been another half hour, and Mandy is still giddily talking to Trevor.  
"Okay! Bye," Mickey's relieved to finally hear her hang up, rolling his eyes and walking back into the kitchen with crossed arms.  
Hearing the phone put back on the receiver along with Mandy's dreamy sigh, Mick's is more dramatic than flattered. His eyes close with intense stress.  
"He's gonna call me back in ten minutes."  
His eyes snap open. " _What?_ "  
"Yeah. I hope that other number doesn't call again." She's assuming it was some sort of unneeded one eight hundred number.  
" _What_  other number? Who _called?_ " Mickey's now sweating uncontrollably.  
"I don't _know!_ I didn't _pick it up!"_  
"What the _fuck,_ Mandy?! It could have been _Ian;_ you gave him the damn number _remember?!_ " He's already pushing her out of the way and trying to find out if he can see who it was that called.  
" _Calm_ down!"  
Mickey doesn't know what the hell he pressed, but whatever it was during his desperate search for truth which consisted of hitting every button on the machine multiple times, it makes the robotic voice announce that there is in fact one new message.  
He has to grab onto the phone to keep him from falling to the floor, as Ian's awkward message plays aloud.  
"Holy _shit!_ " He exclaims, and Mandy has to push him back up to straight posture after he drops the phone to the floor.  
"I-I gotta call him back!" His voice turns higher, struggling to scramble for the phone off of the floor.  
"I'll give you ten minutes."  
" _What?"_ He cringes, picking it up and grimacing at her.  
"Trevor's gonna call me back!"  
"You've already _talked_ to Trevor for like _forty freaking minutes!"_  
"Just call your boyfriend and get your conversation over with," she snaps, finding an old cooking timer in one of their disorganized drawers and leaving the room.  
Mickey hates when Ian is falsely called his boyfriend; only being reminded that he _isn't_ which has him grow angry and sad.  
"Fucking dramatic," he tries to ignore what has been said, looking at the machine and trying to figure out how to call the number back.  
"God _damn it_ how the _fuck_ does this work?!" He shouts in fury, randomly pressing all the buttons again.  
"Oh," he realizes, when the line starts ringing. Which means he's calling Ian.  
"Oh _shit._ _Oh shit!"_ He yells, throwing the hearing piece to his right ear.  
With each ring that sounds, his heart drops down further and further.  
If Ian wasn't started enough by the loud ringing erupting from the device, seeing Mickey's name that he put in as the caller ID to further prove that it was never his intent to talk specifically to him, almost sends him flying off the bed.  
"H-hello?" He forces himself out of his shock and picks up before the damn call ends.  
"Ian?" Mickey didn't actually expect him to pick up.  
"Yeah..." Ian doesn't know what to think about his surprised answer. "D-did you want to talk to Lip...?" He assumes maybe that's why.  
"No, I, uh, got your message..."  
' _That's_ why he's calling you back, you fucking idiot. Because of your _cringe ass_ blubbering' Ian curses himself out with the use of his thoughts.  
"Oh, yeah," Ian laughs nervously. 'And you didn't shit yourself from how uncomfortable sounding it was?' He wants to ask in fascination.  
"Uhhh," Tired of standing Mickey sits down on the floor against the wall behind.  
"Sorry I couldn't answer. Mandy was talking to the guy she met at the mall."  
"Oh," Ian laughs at the thought.  
"B-but I appreciated your voicemail!" Mickey doesn't understand why he isn't piping the _fuck down,_ now speaking eagerly.  
But just like how he wasn't complaining about the voicemail, Ian isn't complaining one bit about Mickey's eagerness.  
"Really?" He grins, deciding to rest himself against his pillow.  
"Y-yeah," Mick is thankful Ian isn't there to see his blushing.  
"I, uh, tried calling earlier but it said it was disconnected." Ian confesses.  
" _Really?_ " That sends Mickey blushing harder, if that's even possible.  
"Yeah, so...That's why I left the thing." Ian's tongue just now might be numb.  
That alone makes Mickey want to pull him through the phone in a non-threatening way and kiss him. He hasn't thought about kissing him so much _and_ this much, until this moment.  
When he should _probably_ be talking.  
Ian can't believe to hear him laugh. Not a fake laugh, not a taunting laugh, but a real, genuine, laugh.  
"Yeah, we, uh, were late on some bills...So what's going on?" Mick decides to ask before he can get into more details.  
"Eh, Fiona's at work so Lip's downstairs watching our little siblings."  
"You have little kids?" Mickey knows he fucked up on that last word, but snickers about it anyway. He's realized that the more time he spends talking to and being with Ian Gallagher, the less shits he can give. The more he can possibly even feel like an actual superhuman.  
"Yeah," Ian laughs with him. "Carl's four, Debbie's five, and Liam's eight months old."  
"Aw,"  
Mickey's sure he's never said the word 'aw' in his life, but here is Ian fucking Gallagher having him fucking say it.  
Who knew this one kid could bring out such a side of him. A side he had always thought seized to exist.  
"Damn," he then says, realizing that including Fiona that adds up to a total of six children.  
"I know," Ian wishes he could see his smirk. "And I thought having a thirteen year-old was the fucking worst," Mickey comments, having them both laugh.

"Who's Mickey talking to that made you have to stop talking to your precious Trevor?" Iggy teases Mandy from the inside of their room and on the space of one queen sized bedspread that is usually shared.  
"Ian." She still holds the timer in her hand, which is leaving Mickey only eight more minutes. "Why the fuck do you have a kitchen timer," Joey ignores her point.  
" _Ooh!_ I wanna go sabotage him" Jaime offers, jumping down on the floor.  
" _No!_ " Mandy goes to grab after him.  
One thing leads to another, and the timer is being loudly set off on its way down to the floor.  
" _MANDY!!_ _IT'S_ _ONLY_ _BEEN_ _TWO_ _FUCKING_ _MINUTES!"_ Mickey makes sure to cover the ear piece while shouting to his sister.  
"You were saying?" He casually, almost innocently asks to Ian, returning to the call.  
Had partially hearing his shouts, Ian giggles before continuing the story about when Liam was born. The story that Mickey listens to every word to. The boy that could listen to Ian Gallagher speak for fucking _ever._  
When he hears that there's another call coming, he tunes it out in replacement for Ian's calming voice.  
Trenton can wait.  
That's his name, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why ship Ian and Trevor when you can ship Mandy and Trevor...? ;)  
> PLEASE. COMMENT. Like Mickey said, "IF ANYONE'S GOT SOMETHING TO SAY FUCKING SAY IT!"  
> Feedback is my BEST motivation!!!  
> Tumblr-heyoricohannah; I'm always taking prompts/suggestions/feedback there! <3


	9. And Then There Were Three:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian invites Mickey to sneak into the Sox game with him and Lip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk how to feel about this chapter, so tell me what you think! <3  
> FEEDBACK, PLEASE!

Though he now might be bruised and battered, Mickey is practically tripping over his sore as hell legs that don't stop him from eagerly sprinting into the kitchen the next morning, to snatch away the phone that can allow him to hear Ian'a voice with just the press of a few buttons.  
Isn't technology great?  
But, " _Move,_ fuck face." Mandy, who came sprinting in from the dining room, grabs the phone at the exact same time as him.  
"I got here _first._ " There's a cut on her lip and bruises all around her eyes.  
"No, _I_ did!"  
" _I_ have to talk to Trevor!"  
"Yeah well _I_ _have_ to talk to Ian!" Grunting, the two of them start pulling for the phone at the exact same time.  
"He said he wants to see me later!" She adds on, trying to not let the device slip through her hand.  
"Yeah well you're gonna need a lot of makeup to cover _that_ shit up." He's pulling as hard as he can let himself.  
"Touché!"  
" _Give it!"_  
"It's _mine!"_ Right after her grunt, they're both letting go at the same time and jumping at the sound it makes when hitting the floor.  
The unwanted dead toned noise coming from the item that hangs by its cord but abandoned on the floor is a substitute for their silence.  
Their bodies grow stiff seeing a back turned Terry passing by, but heave out relieved sighs when they see him entering the bathroom. The lock of that door is music to their ears.  
" _Jesus_ " Mickey grumbles, reaching for the phone while Mandy scowls at him.  
"Ten minutes," she insists again.  
" _Bitch._ "  
"I gotta go do my makeup, thank you very much." She trots away towards her room.  
"Take your time...!" He requests with hope.  
There's gonna be a lot to cover up, anyway.  
His heart hammers the more and more the line rings, causing Ian's obnoxious cellphone ring tone to be his weekend alarm clock.  
He shoots up frantically flying open his eyes, rubbing the rheum and blinking away the sting.  
He looks around, starting with Liam who's still asleep in his crib, from Lip who sleeps in the bunk above him, to Carl's occupied bed in the corner of the room.  
Sighing with a draining face, he stands up with his lack of pants and jumps over to his currently charging phone on the same desk, unplugging it in a flash when he reads Mickey's name, flipping it open and bouncing it to his ear.  
"H-hello?" Mickey can tell that he's just waking up.  
"Hi...!" Again he wasn't expecting him to pick up for shit.  
"Uh-uh did I wake you...?" He starts to whisper, anxiously looking over at the door that Terry shits and smokes behind.  
"I'm glad you did," Ian's whispering too, now. "I-I needed to be woken up;"  
They both laugh quietly. "I kinda have to be quiet. My lazy ass brothers are still asleep and they'll throw fits if I wake them."  
Ian chuckles out, "Y-yeah Liam's still asleep right near me, so..." He decides to walk out into the hall where Fiona and Debbie's rooms are located downwards, so he won't be disturbing his own three brothers.  
"The infant?" Mickey brings up.  
"Yeah. Him." Ian smiles at how he's remembering these things about his huge ass family.  
"So, uh, you doing anything today...?" Mick decides to bring up for a start of conversation.  
"Lip wants to sneak into the Sox game with him today," Ian recalls Lip telling him late last night about how he thinks they should go through with it, after the phone call that he still can't believe actually happened.  
" _Pshh,_ _Jesus_ man the Sox fucking suck," He pokes at him with a grin.  
" _Whatever,_ man you wanna fucking come or what?" Ian didn't mean to blurt out his offer right away, but he knows there's no turning back time.  
He's staring to pick up on his language. Not the cursing; the tone, the jabs. He likes it. Loves it, even. He wants to pick go on more of him. To know his habits and way of thinking. Everything.  
Mickey's frozen in time at first, until the door to the bathroom slams open and hits the wall.  
A small gasp unintentionally escapes, terrified eyes locking over to a cigarette smoking Terry who's not even noticing him standing there, grunting to himself as he walks down the hall and back to his room.  
Mickey's entire body calms with a relief that throws the weights off his shoulders.  
"You alright...?" Ian's scared that he broke him.  
"Y- _yeah!_ Sorry. Lost my train of thought." Mickey excuses.  
"What was that?" Ian's trying not to worry too much about the secrets of his home life.  
"Just Mandy being a clutz. Y-you were saying?" He wipes away his forehead sweat.  
"Uh I-I was wondering if you wanted to join us. Me and Lip. For the Sox game break in."  
'Yeah keep being more specific asshole you're doing great' Ian mentally degrades himself again.  
"Do I what?" Mickey needs to hear him say it one more time. Ian's probably getting pissed off with having to repeat himself, but he doesn't care. He's offering to be with him.  
'You're not even fucking explaining it right' Ian tells himself.  
"Wanna join us. For the game. I-if you want..." he keeps needing to clarify.  
A smile is already spreading across Mick's face like artwork on a canvas. Then again, his smile _is_  already a piece of art.  
"Uh I-I'll see what I can do..." He's still smiling at the thought of going, despite knowing he'll have to sneak out from Terry's wrath.  
"Okay!"  
Ian tries to not show his disappointment at the possibility of Mickey maybe not going with them.  
Fiona's walking out of her room with messy hair and nipples showing through her shirt, smiling and waving at Ian as she passes by.  
Knowing she knows who he's most certainly talking to, Ian blushes in response.  
Smirking at his obviousness, Fiona flashes a big grin before making her way downstairs.  
Ian sighs quietly in embarrassment, gulping before hearing Mickey speak again.  
"Uh, w-what time?"  
"Hm?" Ian can't think clearly when it comes to rest of the world when he talks to him, anymore. Either over the phone or in person. If Mickey _does_ show up at the game, he's gonna be sweating puddles.  
"Oh. Right. Yeah that. Uhhh, two, I think..." Ian can't remember what Lip specifically told him, because again, he's talking to Mickey Milkovich on the phone.  
"Okay! I'll let you know if I can go..." He's glad no one's around to see him grinning like an idiot.  
"Okay...!" Ian assumes that this is the part where they hang up, despite not wanting to.  
Liam is heard abruptly crying from his crib, and he jumps up from the noise with sorrow eyes.  
"Shoot. Uh, _shit_ " he needs to sound cool. "I-I should probably go. Liam's up."  
"Okay!" Mickey's scared at first that he's looking for an excuse to go, until he can hear Liam's cries in the background.  
"Bye Ian. Talk later."  
"Bye Mick."  
Hesitantly, Ian hangs up first, and Mickey sets the phone back onto the receiver with a big shiny smile on his face.  
"Holy _shit..._ " He's glowing.  
His moment of blissful glee ends when he regrettably remembers that Terry, is in fact, _still_ here.

When Ian walks in to settle down a quieter crying Liam, he sees the reason for his out-strike of peace, is Lip shushing and bouncing him lightly in his arms, walking tiny laps in front of the crib itself.  
Carl moans groggily and plops face down into the pillow of his own bed.  
"I can take him," Ian walks from the open doorway and opens out his arms.  
"I got him." Lip's scowling.  
"Okay..." Ian assumes he's just being cranky, but the look he's receiving is only growing darker.  
" _What,_ Lip?" He gives a dirty look right back.  
"I heard you talking to Mickey out there."  
"What, _so?"_ He cringes.  
"Why'd you invite him to the _game,_ Ian? Now I'm gonna be a _fucking third wheel._ "  
Mouth gaping open, Ian's arms cross and he takes a step forward. " _I'm_ sorry, but," he starts sassing.  
"You and _Mickey_ were friends _before_  he and _I_ were friends. So cool your fucking jets."  
" _God;_ why does he even _like_ you Ian? You're so _weird_ " he complains, looking at the ceiling with his eyes rolling.  
"Okay _fuck you, Lip!_ Who says a guy like Mickey can't hang out with a guy like _me?!"_ He's yelled at.  
"Fuck off!" Carl yells face down in his bed just as Liam resumes to cry.  
"Can someone _shut_ that kid up?!" He yells to them.  
"Carl language!" Ian scolds to him, turning his entire focus on him.  
"I never _said_ -Jesus Ian you're so _fucking_ _dramatic!_ " Lip accuses loudly over the infant's screaming.  
" _You're_ so fucking dramatic with your ' _third wheel'_ bullshit! He doesn't even like me!"  
Lip has to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying something that he shouldn't, because if he does then he knows Mickey will be the end of him.  
" _Why_ is Liam crying?!" Debbie asks her brothers tiredly, walking by the doorway and into their room.  
"He's all yours," not wanting to deal with him, Lip walks over and hands him to the youngest sister, shutting the door in her face as she hawks.  
" _BREAKFAST!!"_ Fiona demands from downstairs.  
"Who took my damn toaster?!" Kevin accuses again, barging right into the home and letting their door hit the wall.  
Young and exhausted, Carl figures that he's better off sleeping on the damn roof.

Downstairs for breakfast, Lip and Ian are still going back in forth about this whole 'third wheel' thing.  
Kevin is unplugging the toaster his live-in girlfriend Veronica kindly lended to the family, while Debbie is taking pride in herself that she managed to calm Liam down.  
"Yeah Lip 'cause I'm just gonna fucking _call_ Mickey up and tell him he _can't_ fucking come. He doesn't even know if he _can_ go!" Ian reasons to his brother.  
" _Why_ would you even _offer?!"_  
"Why do you _think?!"_  
It's no rocket science for Ian that he definitely has a crush on Mickey Milkovich. It'd be silly for him to still be in denial, which thankfully he isn't anymore, but he's not just going to blurt it out either as his new 'good morning.'  
" _What's_ the issue?" Fiona stressfully demands to get to bottom of this while she cooks them their eggs.  
She looks over at them for a quick moment, knowing she needs to pay her attention to the piece of kitchenware in use.  
"Lip's being a _dick, that's_ what's happening." Ian snaps.  
Now having seated him in his high chair, Debbie covers Liam's ears.  
"Kevin?" She wonders, noticing he's about to make his way out with the toaster in tow and cord dragging on the floor.  
"Can we keep that for a bit to make toast?"  
"Fine." He decides. "But _I_ get to have some," he walks over to the countertop and plugs it back in.  
"You're gonna have to be more specific," Fiona advises, as Lip is cursing Ian out and Kevin is retrieving two slices of bread to burn.  
"We were gonna sneak into the Sox game today and he invited _Mickey_ without telling me." Lip clarifies the situation.  
"I was _going_ to tell you!"  
"Eh the Sox are a bunch-a _fags_ ," Kevin comments in impatience and need while waiting for his toast to pop up.  
Despite being jealous and envious, Lip protectively looks over at a flushed red Ian to make sure he's okay.  
"And that's a problem _how?_ I thought you and him were _friends._ " Fiona is skeptically gazing over at them while transferring her eggs over to a large plate with her spatula.  
"Because I _might as well_ not even _fucking be there."_  
"Fucking _dramatic,_ " Ian groans and rolls his eyes, while Fiona is scolding them both for their language.  
"Why?" Debbie cocks her head at Lip's claim.  
"Will you _shut up;_ he's _your friend too._ " Ian is repeating himself.  
"Yeah Ian not in the way he's _your_ 'friend'" Lip uses air quotes, making Ian turn a deep red and want to shrivel into a puddle.  
"Lip that's _enough_." Fiona knows that Ian is embarrassed, more so humiliated.  
"Oh, Ian I am _so_ sorry" Kevin chuckles out about his use of slurs, strolling by Ian and patting his shoulder.  
It only worsens his self consciousness.  
He jumps, when Kevin yelps in response to his toast popping up.  
Debbie cringes at him.  
"Alright, who's hungry?" Fiona walks over and sets the plate of legs onto the table.  
" _Owe owe ooch owe owe"_ Kevin whispers sharply, carrying over his slices of heated bread and dropping them on a paper towel.  
Veronica walks in unannounced, shaking her just bought bag of bagels in the air.  
"Hey all!"  
"Ayeeee!" Fiona and Kevin are cheering at her presence, while Debbie is happily greeting her.  
"Gay." Liam uses the only word he knows how to.  
In the middle of everyone-except the older brothers who are still sneaking each other dirty glances-enjoying their breakfast and talking all around the table, Carl stomps downstairs, dragging along his blanket and a pillow.  
"Carl, you hungry?" Fiona asks.  
"I'm sleeping on the roof. You're all damn noisy" he complains, on his way to the door.  
Everyone watches in awe and hesitance;  
trying not to release snickers or look at each other unless they want to break into a laugh. Strangely enough, the young delinquent takes the toaster with him.  
" _Carl...?_ " Debbie asks wearily.  
Kevin eats some of Fiona's eggs while she's out there trying to save the middle brother from most certain doom.

It's one thirty, and Terry still looks pretty passed out on the couch from whatever the hell it is he put in his system. And honestly, what _hasn't_ he put into his system?  
Steadily walking past the couch besides the man being dead asleep and snoring loudly, a now sharply dressed Mickey's heart jolts with panic each beat; scared the man could just so possibly wake up and ruin his plans.  
He tip toes his way all into the kitchen, grabbing the phone and dialing Ian's number gently.  
"Hey Mick," Lip answers the phone for him while Ian's in the bathroom.  
"Hey Lip. Uh, Ian said I could join you guys for the game. That okay...?"  
Lip wants to say no. That it's better if it's just them.  
He wants to say that he's jealous that this really cool guy he likes hanging out with is getting close with his really cool younger brother, and would rather eat _glass_ than feel lonesome and left out by the both of them.  
But, "Yeah. Of course..."  
Mickey can hear him sounding hesitant.  
"And hey, dude _don't_ feel weird about how we have that thing going on, okay? I'm so nervous; I'm gonna be talking to you the whole time. I have _no_ idea what I'm gonna say to him." He admits.  
"Okay..." Lip smiles at the mind reading that just took place, but doesn't want Ian feeling left out either.  
"How about _we_ both just talk to each other, and _you_ let him do all the talking to you." He decides.  
"See ya." That being all he needs, Mick hangs up the phone suddenly, before glaring at himself for a few good seconds.  
He casually re-dials the number.  
"Hey. Where's the stadium at again?"  
  
Mandy suspiciously walks into the room with arms crossed and face frowned, as the phone is put back on the receiver shamelessly loud this time.  
She watches her brother as he sighs at his so thought moronic actions, rubbing his hands through his in-hopes-of-impressing-Ian neatly combed hair.  
"What'd you fuck up this time?" She asks, and her turns irritably in her direction.  
"Fuck _off_ Mandy. You wanna talk to Trenton?" He swipes the phone eagerly. " _Talk_ to fucking Trenton."  
"I want to know why you're acting like a fucking _spaz,_ ya fuck face." She insults. "I assume this has something to with Ian?" She knows Ian is the only person in this world that can work him up in such away.  
"Fuck off." That's his translation for yes.  
"Why are you dressed like that?" She wants him to at least say his name.  
"To cover up my mauled face."  
She stares at him smartly and edgily, chin and eyebrows pointed.  
" _And_ Ian..." His tone reveals honest defeat. He might as well just take that phone cord and choke himself to death at this point.  
"Is this, like a date?" Mandy grins at the thought.  
" _What?_ " He's already blushing at how much he wishes it was so, words bubbling up in his throat and body tensing. "N- _no!_ Lip's joining us..."  
"Ugh. Never _mind_ me wanting to _come,"_ she cringes.  
"Listen Mandy. I know you don't like him anymore, but he's my _friend._ _Yes_ he's an asshole when it comes to certain things, but aren't we all? And you got Trenton now-"                                        " _Trevor._ " He's freshly corrected.  
"Whatever. Now quit soaking yourself and talk to him."  
On his way out of the room, he shoves the phone in her angrily cramping hand.  
"Be back soon!"  
Jaw too busy clenching and bottom lip being bitten down on, she responds with nothing.

Lip observes Ian in their room preparing his jacket, shoes, and the few extra bucks he's deciding to bring, observably thinking of how to inform him about the conversation he just had on his phone with the crush he's just finally admitting to having, and _talking_ to that said crush about _how_ that said crush will barely be speaking to him, without any consent.  
"So Mickey's gonna join us," he finally speaks us.  
The eyes that Ian give him lack trust and lean on suspicion. "How do you know...?"  
"I _may_ have kind of talked to him."  
" _What?_ On _my_ phone?!" Ian's already hollering, and Lip's already rolling his eyes again.  
"He _called_ me?!" He finishes.  
"Yes, genius. While you were in the bathroom. It's a crime to pick up somebody else's phone when they can't, now?"  
"Don't _touch my shit..."_ He can notice Ian blinking with insecurity and eyes fluttering intensely.  
Apparently Lip isn't the only one around here that's jealous and insecure about the attention they receive.  
Ian can't tell whether he's jealous about Mickey ignoring him for Lip and actually liking him, or Lip stealing away the first real friend he's ever had. Who just so happens to be the first real friend that _Lip's_ ever had too.  
Or maybe so both.  
"W-whatever..." There's no sign of casualty whatsoever.  
"Let's just go, okay?"  
He swaps up the cash from his dresser, and stomps out of the room with sneakers on his feet and a hood going over his head.  
Lip doesn't know how much more of his-or Ian's-daily angst he can't take.

Considering he has no cellphone and no other way to contact them, Mickey grows quite conflicted when he shows up outside of the stadium and can't spot the two boys anywhere. He would go check to see if they're already inside, except he expected they would all be sneaking in together.  
Maybe they already know that he can handle himself?  
He would have liked the whole thing better if it was a team effort.  
He groans at himself and simply decides to wait in the back of the line, tapping his foot impatiently on the pavement in wonder of how the hell he's gonna get in there.  
Terry is more of a take you to an overage bar for you to watch him get wasted and gaze around at all the prostitutes for you to realize you're not at all attracted to them, kind of father, instead of a simple memory making baseball game kind of father.  
In conclusion, Mickey's never been to any kinds of these damn places.  
"Why is that all over your face?" The little girl in front of him asks.  
He shushes her, and her mother pulls her away from his direction.  
When he finally gets to the front of the line with still no sign of the guys, he knows he has to take matters into his own hands.  
"Ticket."  
"Don't got one."  
"Does this look like a charity case to you?" Snaps the male gatherer, one missing front tooth to abandon the rest of his gold ones, with sagging skin and a scowl that looks to be his resting face.  
"Possibly. I'm _crippled._ " The teenager goes for pity.  
"Bruises on your face from the fucker I don't blame for beating _you_ up isn't cripple, ya retard."  
" _Aha!_ How do you think that poor man over there in the wheelchair feels?!" He accuses in a fake tone of betrayal, pointing over to the broken legged man in the back of the line who he automatically assumed was mentally delayed.  
" _Hey!_ " He yells.  
"Beat it, kid."  
"I'll beat _you_ if you don't shut your yellow mouth!" Threatening is now the only option.  
" _Security-!"_  
"Alright, alright! The only reason I'm here is because I'm waiting for people who I don't even _know_ are gonna show up; so I might as well leave because the _SOX FUCKING SUCK!"_

When a bickering Ian and Lip finally do show up, the first thing they see was not expected to be Mickey being dragged off of the property because of all the different fist fights he had gotten into you.  
" _YOU SACK OF DICKS-!_ Oh hey guys," he waves to them casually, legs literally being dragged across the parking lot pavement as the other boys watch with their mouths agape.  
Able to hear Mickey's continuous shouting and protesting when he's just about halfway across the entire lot, the brothers look at each other full of miserable knowledge, and know to make a sprint for it.  
"Yeah? Well _fuck you!"_ They're now watching Mickey cursing at the security guard walking away from them and all the way back across the property, standing next to the ground stricken trouble maker almost all the way into the street.  
"Hey guys," he then casually looks up at them while getting onto his feet, and Ian just about laughs.  
The crippled boy almost loses it at that. But in a good way.  
While Ian might be swooning and and laughing at his badass hope-to-be future boyfriend and partner in crime-if he already isn't-Lip, well, Lip isn't so happy.  
"Mickey what the _fuck did you just do?!"_ He yells in consequence.  
"I _may_ have yelled that the Red Sox suck in the line for-- _everyone_ \--to hear..." He scratches the back of his head awkwardly.  
" _Why?!"_ He spreads his arms.  
"Because they _do suck!"_  
" _You_ suck!"  
" _Alright!"_ Ian puts a firm stop to their disruption.  
" _Great,_ asshole." But Lip's not done there. " _What_ are we gonna do _now?_ " His arms cross.  
"I don't care man, like I said the Sox suck."  
Ian has to repeatedly and frantically yell Lip's name when having to keep him from elbowing Mickey's face.  
"If you _wanna_ see the game so badly, you two go see them." Mickey gestures his hand forward casually, trying to act careless towards the fact that he's going to be separated from the both of them. The only good thing about pulling the shit he did is that the other guys assume all of his facial bruises are from _that_ , the _incident_ , when most just happen to be from his own father.  
"Well _how_ the _hell_ are we gonna get you in there with the scene you just caused?" This is the first time Ian's ever recalled being assertive with him.  
Except that's a good thing; because it means neither of them should be afraid to show the feelings they truly want and need to express around each other, no matter how true those emotions may be.  
A real relationship between any two people displays feelings of all varieties.  
Mickey's surprised to see him act like that, but he needs to remind himself that Ian isn't the perfect charmer that he's got to stop thinking of him as.  
"Just go without me...It's fine..." Lip doesn't like the uncertainty in his voice.  
"No..." he decides, and Mick looks at him. "There...There'll be other games."  
"You're sure?" Mickey checks.  
"Yeah. Besides it, it would feel weird without you here, man..." Lip goes as far as to awkwardly but firmly pat his shoulder, having Ian snicker with a hint of jealousy.  
"So you're admitting the Sox suck?" Mickey grins at the same aged boy.  
"You _wish,_ bitch," they all laugh when Lip shoves him.  
They walk off the property all close to one another with Ian in the middle, cracking jabs prior to the older boys declaring cigarettes.  
They push, shove, jump far away with intent of cocky competition to see who can separate themselves the farthest, and a list of other smartass, dumbass, reckless teenage things they're stupid enough to be doing.  
You know, the natural things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request prompts to heyoricohannah on Tumblr!!! (This includes jyrus and jonnor)  
> I'm a sucker for a Mickey and Lip friendship, and of course a Mickey and Ian relationship which is in development! The three of them will most certainly all be hanging out together.  
> Next chapter is gonna be a ride. So, get ready if you haven't already.  
> LEAVE! FEEDBACK!


	10. I'm With The Band

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey and Ian grow closer at Patsy's Pies while Lip bangs the waitress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late...? Agh, I'm starting school next week, so when I do continue to update they probably won't be as long as they usually are :/ but I'm not leaving this fic!!! Bare with me!

Mickey sure as hell isn't going back to that hell hole of his house, and the two Gallagher brothers remaining with him didn't wake up to do fuck all of nothing all day.  
So if they can't go to the Sox game because Mickey got a bit carried away, then they're all gonna be spending their day at the next best thing.  
Patsy's Pies just a few blocks down.  
Lip's medaling ass insisted on sitting alone in the red vinyl booth, across from Ian and Mickey who are sitting right next to each other, on the right hand side of their seating. So close in fact, that their thighs are touching. Mickey thinks he'll never be able to get over that. It'll be the story he'll tell his hypothetical grandkids. 'Ian Gallagher and I's thighs touched at a diner.'  
Then they'll be confused about him being gay, and he'll force them off of his lawn.  
He has some interesting thoughts during those long, assuredly half assed geometry lectures.  
Their high schooler looking waitress smiles down at Lip as she slowly slides away his menu after their order, strutting away with all three of them in tow.  
"Keep _dreaming,"_ Mickey says to him, arching up an eyebrow for sassy value. He enjoys the chortle that Ian sounds towards him a little _too_ much; blushing and grinning over at him.  
Lip scoffs at his continuation of spazzing because of anything that happens with Ian.  
"Fuck _you,_ man, you're just jealous" he jokes around with him, making both of the other boys laugh.  
Those two said boys make quick eye contact, which causes both of their hearts to personally rattle.  
"What's her name?" Ian tests.  
"Why should _I_ know-?"  
" _Kelly,_ Lip. Her name is _Kelly_ and _maybe_ you woulda took one look at her name tag if you weren't too busy ogling her _tits._ "  
Mickey chortles out loud.  
"You're a fucking _man whore,_ Lip" Ian continues to him, watching Mickey cackle in mockery and smiling at the playfully grimacing older brother.  
"I know what I am but what are you?" He smirks cockily and sits up right with a cross of his arms.  
" _Not_ a man whore," Ian points out. Mickey scoffs and nods his head in agreement. "Yeah, join the fuckin' club" he mutters, drumming his fingers on the table's edge.  
"At least I'm not a prude," Lip smiles to them. Maybe having them hear that will be a good thing. Maybe they'll declare to prove him wrong and end up hooking up...!  
_Instead_ there's in-denial scoffing and rosy cheeked blushing.  
The waitress returns with their drinks, making sure to give Lip a good smirk when he's the last to be served.  
"Enjoy," an infant could make out her on display flirting.  
Because of that, Lip is hard in his jeans. On the other end of the booth, Ian and Mickey are rolling their eyes and trying not to retch. 'Man whore' Ian mouths to Mick, and he giggles softly. Lip is too busy staring at the woman's ass to notice.  
"Havin' fun there?" Mickey asks the boy, who looks back with a content grin.  
"Mm-hm."  
"You have a boner right now don't you," Ian asks.  
Speaking of that, Mickey's surprised he made it this long without getting one, himself.  
Same goes for the guy who likes him.  
'Like _you two_ don't?' Lip wants to blurt, but thankfully knows his boundaries.  
"You know, this place ain't half bad for the shit hole town it's in," Mickey amusedly looks around. "The music is fucking gay though."  
Ian's glad he's currently too oblivious to sense his blushing of embarrassment.  
He shouldn't be _offended_ or anything. Because Mickey _is_ gay. Right?  
_God_ he sure hopes so.  
"Gotta piss," an empty bladdered Lip stands up from his chair and is already heading towards the restroom.  
"You're just gonna _fuck_ our waitress and prevent us from getting our food," Ian suspiciously notices their full glass from across the table.  
"I know what _I_ am but what are you?" He repeats to them before entirely disappearing to the back.  
Part of him wants to hide behind a fake plant and spy on them to see how much awkwarder they'll act around each other now that they're alone. They're already the spazzes of the _year_ when they're together in public.  
The spazzes of the year are currently looking at one another with petrified eyes and weak chuckles.  
"He always been like this?" Mickey brings up.  
Ian chortles. "Yeah. Usually."  
Mickey chuckles like it's the only sound he currently knows how to make.  
"Um..." Ian so badly wants to know what to say next.  
'Think of something. _Think_ of something, you asshole! Why can't you think of things like him?!'  
Except Mickey's mind is totally blank, and his stomach totally nauseous.  
"So I suppose this isn't your kinda music?" Ian decides to smile at him.  
His entire body almost lurches up at the disgusted noise coming out of Mick's mouth.  
"This is the kinda shit that belongs in some liberal poetry slam finger snapping low budget scone cafe." Mickey's rant is quite specific.  
"Do you even know what liberal means?" Ian grins in wonder, honestly wanting to know all of his opinions on politics.  
A topic that they unfortunately only hear about from his fag bashing, intolerant Dad.  
"Something my Dad's always complaining about" he bitterly brings it up.  
"Mine too" Ian giggles out, causing Mickey to flash a smile. He figures they should stop until both truths about both dads are uncomfortably revealed. It'll happen sooner than later.   
"So, just out of curiosity and because of my interest in your perspective, what kinda music do you think belongs in a place like this?" An eyebrow raises.  
Stop it _right_ _fucking_ _there._ Mick's mouth is dry and bottom lip almost agape. He almost forgets the entire _goddamn_ _question_ because holy shit _Ian_ _Gallagher_ just said that he finds _his_ perspective _interesting._ Is he _serious?!_ As far as Mickey himself knew, most of the world wouldn't care if he ended up _dead._  
But Ian Gallagher, the freckle faced army ass kicking seventh grader that goes to his school, and will still never know how the hell he's sitting next to right now, thinks _he's_ interesting. Does he think of him as like a _mentor_ or something? Because that would _not_ be good. Oh, what an oblivious and denial filled mind he has.  
Ian sure has thoughts about what Mickey is, and it is _not_ a mentor. Even if so, then it is _not_ in a friendly way.  
"Uhh-" Mickey's been too unresponsive for too long, forcing a loud clearing of the throat for some goddamn noise to actually happen between them.  
"I don't know for fuck all, man, I don't listen to much shit." The thickness of his accent is back, and so is the forced facial expression of lacking any impression. It's actually pretty easy to force considering it's his actual resting face for more than _most_ of the time.  
The Milkoviches don't exactly have a radio or anything to keep up with the times biggest hits.  
As far as they know their local radio is the local supermarket or pharmacy.  
"What kinda stuff do you think you'd be into?" Ian wants an estimate.  
Depression filled, goth, screamo, hard rock, sad, pain inflicting music..  
He decides to be less specific. "Alternative and rock I guess," his shoulders shrug. "The fuck is our food?" He's now suddenly and eagerly hungry, eyes roaming around suspiciously. "If you'd like that I think you'd like this band Syndicated Alien. You could check out their stuff if you want," Ian doesn't want to seem pushy.  
"Okay," a now dead set eye contact heart eyed Mickey Milkovich will do just about anything to get closer to who he wants. And _oh,_ does he want him.  
"Your food should be right out; we don't know where your previous server went..." They're flatly explained to by the approaching old wrinkly skinned and unhappy new waitress, wearing her Janeen labeled name tag that's practically falling off.  
The boys uncomfortably nod their heads in response, not exactly wanting to blurt out where she could-and and totally would-be.  
"Can I borrow that thanks-" Mickey hastily snatches the pen hanging out from over the top fabric of Janeen's shirt.  
"What?" She frowns.  
"What'd you say that band was again?" He automatically turns to Ian, clicking the utensil and bringing out the led.  
Being repeated the name, he speedily writes the info down on the nearest brown napkin, with a concentrated tongue sticking out and some unimpressionable handwriting.  
"Here." He hands it back to the woman, who scowls lightly before walking away.  
He scoffs behind her back, looking to Ian. "What an old bitch."  
He giggles at him, resting his elbow on the table and palm on his chin.  
He never wants Mickey to stop being the way he is.  
That is, unless, he knew about the depression, insecurities, the guilt, and the challenges he gives himself.  
Then he would wish to anyone listening that Mick would change himself for the better.  
However he has no idea he's already changing him in great ways neither of them can describe. Especially if you discount the typical teen angst and bitterly inducing nervousness.  
_Those_ are things, that Mickey would rather _not_ have Ian make him feel.  
Except because of the other way around, Ian can scarcely admit to feeling particularly the same.  
"Why does Lip always gotta be a _man_ _whore_ and _ruin_ everything," Mick points out, causing Ian to laugh a laugh which he instantly regrets. Although Mickey wouldn't change it for the world.  
"Uh..." He can't help but smile, and at first Ian's heart drops in fear of being jabbed at. But he should know by now that Mickey thinks he's nearly perfect. But of course he doesn't.             "Thanks for the band," he flimsily points down to the napkin which was used to write on with the bitchy waitress's pen.  
"Yeah. Yeah. They're really good. Uh if you end up liking them I'm pretty sure they're performing at this bar downtown."  
Mickey doesn't know what stops first-time, or his heart. It feels as if all air has blocked against him, heart falling through his body and lips lining together.  
Did--did Ian just fucking _offer_ _him_ to tag along?  
This band better be fucking _mesmerizing_. No matter what he knows he'd be staring at _him_ the whole time.  
On the other end of the stick, Ian thinks he broke Mickey in the worst way possible; never wanting to take back an offer more than he does right now.  
He hopes the look of belittlement on his face isn't displayed so publicly.  
"Uh-" Mickey goes back to actually acting like a fucking human being around him, having to remember to breathe and sit up right.  
S-u-ure," if only there could be a do over with words. He almost flinches at the furrowing of Ian's brow. "I-I mean-yeah, yeah."  
"Okay..." Ian's now weaker than before, voice shrinking with discreet panic. His bundles of nerves forgot to remind him that besides the money he has on him right now, he's pretty much _dead_ _broke_ , but thankfully he can put a positive spin on that.  
"Are we gonna be able to sneak in without you getting into fistfights?" He smiles.  
Mickey blushes deeply, yet still smiles back at the same time.  
"We'll see," he teases, and Lip is heading back to the amusing sound of their erupted laugher, sliding across in the both from him with a crooked grin.  
The moment of bliss is slowly faded away by Lip's fresh sex presence, the other boys casually looking over and scoffing.  
"Having fun, there?" Mickey asks in a tease.  
The smile he's responded with is cheeky and sheepish. "Got a phone number."  
"Okay, Mr. Quickie; well you left us with a bitchy waiter so _thanks_ _for_ _that._ " He says, just before his ordered meal is slammed down in front of his torso, body flinching at the sound and pupils shrinking at the return of the familiar face.  
"Hey princess," he decides to greet, the other boys doing what they can to not snicker at his comment.  
Two more slam downs of plates, and the woman tells them to not give her a holler if they need anything.  
"Would it be awkward if the girl you just fucked was our waitress again?" Mick asks the same aged boy once she's gone.  
" _Yes."_ Ian would rather have his food be repeatedly spat in by the lowlife pen loser than have to experience that.  
It doesn't matter anyway, because they plan to dine and dash after they finish, anyway.  
Mickey's never been more careful of etiquette dining until he's eaten in front of Ian Gallagher.  
In the middle of that almost succeeded dine and dash, Ian runs into what he doesn't know is a familiar face.  
"Ian _Gallagher?_ " The girl is a bundle of joy at his presence.  
"Uhhhh..."  
"It's _Jenny!_ From _Pre_ - _K_!"  
"Oh-oh _yeah...!_ " He's sweating with awkward anxiety and trying to eye dart Lip for desperate help.  
Mickey watches with no amusement whatsoever, impatiently tapping his foot at the unpleasant thought of getting caught.  
"Y-Yeah...!" He might as well just go alone with it, looking back with a forced smile.  
"Oh my gosh it's been so _long!_ "  
"Yup..." He suddenly recalls the only thing anyone ever remembered about her-her thick New Jersey accent.  
"You look _good!_ "  
"Thanks..."  
Mickey's eyebrows unhappily raise at the sound of that dialogue. What the fuck? Was that a _compliment?_ Yeah Ian _does_ look good, he looks good _all_ _the_ _time,_ but was that meant in the way he _thinks_ it was meant? _Jesus._  
"We should hook up sometime!" She suggests, and Mickey hopes that's not meant in the context it sounds like it's in. Smoke might as well be traveling out of his ears.  
With the help of a nearby napkin, and the same bitter waitress's pen, she gives him her phone number.  
"Thank you..."  
"Of _course!_ Tootles!" She waves to all of them, just as Lip's hookup exits the bathroom and smirks at him from across the room.  
"Can you please stop whoring around and get back to waitressing them so I don't have to do your job!" Janeen complains to Kelly.  
"Uh-uh we actually finished the meals. And she hooked up with me. Was pretty awesome. Bye-"  
"Wait. You guys pay?" She interrogates them.  
"He paid _me,_ " smirks Kelly in reference to Lip, and the other one fumes.  
"Oh _bullshit-!_ "  
"Alrighty let's go-!" The boys are already making a run for it.  
"Call me!" Jenny and Kelly yell out at the same time.

The delinquent boys bolt almost half a mile away from Patsy's Pies, hopefully covering up their tracks and getting rid of the remembrance of anything about them.  
By the time they're done; hunching over and laughing in pants, they're sneaking back and forth silly glances which almost causes them to laugh their selves onto the hard grassy ground.  
"Jesus Christ that woman was _insane,_ " Lip almost coughs, when they're all struggling to stand up straight.  
With a hand to his stomach, Ian loudly clears his throat so he doesn't choke on another laugh.  
"She's probably bitter that she's not young and hot like that girl you banged," Mickey says, and Lip's laugh is more genuine than Ian's.  
Hot. Mickey thinks she's hot? Well, wouldn't any average person be able to see that, regardless of their sexuality?  
Is Mickey saying that to be blatantly descriptive, or...Is he really into her?  
Wouldn't banging a girl your friend just banged be like, breaking some sort of code?  
Ian is literally going through every loop hole possible for something that's, just that-- _not_ _possible_.  
_God_ , he has to stop overthinking so much.  
Although it's not like Mickey's forgotten about Jenny at all. At least for right _now_.  
The thought will cause him to recoil soon enough.  
"Holy _shit!"_ The sooner or later realization tears him away from the thoughts of envy.  
"My _cast!"_ They all seem to notice the lack of his crutch all at once.  
"You _left_ it there?" Lip exclaims.  
"I-I _guess_ but holy _shit_ I can walk fine now!" Ian stares down at the cast in awe, purposely sticking out his leg and spreading his arms. Mickey giggles at the sight. "You're _cured!"_ He smiles, and the boys laugh at once.  
"Ah, _Jesus._ I should probably get going." Mickey's smile slowly fades at the thought of his father's wrath.  
"Okay," Ian's disappointed, the light from his eyes slowly fading.  
"Yeah I'll call you later tonight," Lip brings up, and Mickey grows satisfied at the notion.  
"Okay, sounds good." They give each other a friendly fashioned high five. Ian's bottom lip is uncomfortably bitten down on.  
"Uh,"  
Speaking of calling, Mickey turns to Ian for a hopefully non desperate or insanely jealous sounding confirmation about Jenny.  
"So, uh, are you gonna like, call that girl...?" His voice both rasps and cracks at the last syllable of the sentence.  
Lip tries not to laugh too much while Mickey's scratching the back of his neck with nervousness.  
"Oh, shit, uh, pretty sure I dropped the napkin like a block back while we were running." Noticing not only the lack of the no longer needed crutch, but also the never needed phone number, Ian actually seems to think it's pretty funny.  
"O-oh that's too _bad..."_ Mickey now just might consider becoming spiritual. In terms of Ian, it would all make sense. Something _amazing_  must have had to create him. People like him don't just pop out of thin air, right? What an _amazing_ human being.  
" _Mickey._ " If Lip let him ogle any longer then drool would be dribbling down his chin.  
"Huh?" He spins around quickly away from the boy that caused the damn trance, wiping the saliva that would have caused humiliation from the top of his mouth.  
"We're gonna go, okay?" He can tell the situation is only getting worse and worse.  
"Uh, alright..." Too embarrassed to turn back to Ian, he waits for him to walk over near him.  
"See ya Mickey," he hopes he's not acting too dull, or too casual either.  
He flashes up his hand, and Mickey has a desire to hold it. Not high five it like he does with Lip's.  
"Bye..." he can't fuck it up by getting lost into his eyes again.  
Ian honestly has trouble not doing the same.  
"See ya man." Lip high fives the boy his friendship will grow deeper with, and has to pull Ian away from Mick before either of them continue to almost make complete fools of themselves.  
"Okay...!" An already somewhat lonely Mickey watches them stroll away side by side.  
"I'll call you!" He reminds him.  
Ian likes to pretend that he was saying that to him.  
The thought amuses, and then saddens him in the very end.  
Oh, a boy can dream.

When Mickey returns home, his slightly gleeful high is knocked down by a privacy enjoying Mandy's stool sitting ass blabbering her mouth full of gossip toKaren over the tangle corded telephone.  
"She _said_ that----? _Girl_ if _I_ was her she woulda been _fucking_ _catching_ these hands----is the sex good? You didn't _ask?_ "  
Having enough while slumping in the doorway, Mickey stomps over and snatches away the phone.  
" _Bye_ _Karen,_ " he farewells, before slamming the device onto its receiver.  
"Mickey what the _fuck?!"_ Mandy cringes in fury, spreading out her arms and hopping to the floor in front of him.  
" _Where's_ the fucking library." He gets to the point with his arms firmly crossing.  
"Why the fuck are _you_ going to the library."  
"Ian recommended this band to me and there's nowhere else-"  
"Oh, Ian, _Ian_ _Ian."_ She loudly snaps in interruption.  
" _Trevor_ Trevor Trevor."  
"Fuck _you!"_ She scowls.  
"Just _give_ _me_ the fucking directions!"  
She sighs. "Fine. Go down four blocks, take a right, pass the El, one more block, and it's next to the auto place."  
" _Four_ blocks?" He cringes.  
"Oh, just fucking _go._ This is a big moment for _all_ of us."  
He knocks down the phone and flashes his middle finger on the way out.

He walks into the building like he owns the place, despite not having an idea about what he's doing or where the fuck he's going. There's not too many people around and, well, quiet.  
"Too fuckin' _quiet_ in here" he whispers under his breath, irritably walking forward into the place.  
With just a few more feet, the old school computers with old school and mouse pads are in front of him, the old school computers that are, by his luck, occupied.  
"Yo. _Chuck fuck._ Move." He has no problem asserting to the middle aged gentleman in the middle chair, to the right of the little brown girl with pigtails. She looks over at him with crushed innocence.  
' _Go'_ he harshly mouths, frantically gesturing his hand over to her turtle research filled screen.  
She does so.  
"You gotta problem with being patient?" The man speaks loudly, standing up with a gleam.  
" _Alright_ mister; go jerk it somewhere else. I got shit to take care of."  
" _Sir!_ You're going to have to leave if you continue to use language and have such of an attitude." The female librarian at the nearest desk instructs.  
"You _heard_ the lady. Out," he turns back to the chump and points behind.  
"If you _want_ to use the computers, you're gonna have to wait your turn like everyone else."  
"Well maybe people would be able to hurry the fuck up if your _service_ wasn't so slow. Which I bet it _is."_  
"Five minutes before I call the cops." He's threatened.  
"Well what do you except me to do until then?" His question almost sends the woman into a breakdown. "I _suggest_ you read a book."  
Meanwhile the little girl still doing research thought the question was pretty funny. He flashes a quick thumbs up her way. At least someone around here gets something swell out of his presence.  
" _Gross,"_ he whispers at the scary scary recommendation, spinning around and stomping away.  
He has to admit; the information he's gathering on pelicans through the children's section placed book is _rather_ intriguing.  
"Hm," he says to himself, sitting in one of the cushioned chairs and flipping a page.  
"Mickhalio?" Speaks the familiar voice that is unfortunately not Ian's, not that he knows his full name anyway.  
Although Mickey does sometime fantasize about him growing fascinated and finding out personal information.  
"Miss..." He trails off, forgetting the name of the secretary who secretly enjoys his visits.  
" _Callaster._ "  
"Right, right. What are you doing here?"  
"This is a library, Mr. Milkovich. There's only so many guesses."  
"I _get_ it." He finds himself snapping,  
"What happened to your poor face?"  
"Uh...I may have gotten in a few fights with a few people."  
That may or may not have included his own dead beat father.  
"B-but not on school property. On baseball stadium property. Sox fuckin' suck."  
"I'm not much of a sports fan. But I suppose you're having a nice time catching up on...Pelicans?" She looks down at the cover of his book.  
"Grabbed it out of the kiddos section myself."  
"Hm..." She nods. She walks over next to his chair.  
"What's the real reason you're here, Mr. Milkovich," they ask, knowing there must be a deeper meaning or reason behind it.  
"If I'm being honest? My friend, uh-" he's already blushing. "He recommended me this band. And until that fat fuck's done with the computer I'm gonna check them out."  
"And you can't do that at home?"  
"The library's more peaceful" he turns blunt, aware that stew figuring him out.  
"I see...Have you eaten?"  
"Yeah, I dined and dashed with a couple of friends." He frowns at her concern, if that's even what it is.  
Mick never thought he'd have friends to bring up, or talk about.  
One of which he hopes will be _more_ than a friend. And a _guy._ And _nerve_ _wrecking_. While he and the other don't have to say much to show that they _mean_ much.  
Holy shit, it's a lot to take in.  
"Alright..." Her accusations of him having little to no money are correct.  
"You done treating me like a fucking Jeopardy contestant?"  
"You watch a lot of TV?"  
His frown continues. "I will scream. I _will_. Don't make me _do_ it..." he's squinting.  
"Just trying to figure you out, Mr. Milkovich."  
Noticing that fat fuck is finally done deleting his history, he hands Callaster the pelican book and stands up.  
"If you _excuse_ me..."  
She watches him. She watches him plug in the pair of small tangled black headphones and put the soft speakers over his ears. She listens to the sound of his furious clicking, typing, and rushed cursing breaths.  
She lights up at the smile on his face, seeing he found the page that took forever to pop up on the screen.  
She observes him turn up the volume and slowly bob his head to the music. A little more. A little less. He skips around a bit and goes back and forth to different songs.  
She can't take her eyes away while he flexes the muscles in his thighs and taps his left foot. She can hear the the music he turns up so loud that it can be heard through the headset.  
She watches him get threatened for the last time, and listens overwhelmingly at the curses he yells out when the getting the hell out of there.  
When it's really quiet, she swears on her life she can hear him screaming the lyrics to Syndicated Alien on the way home.  
The webpage of their pirated album eventually fades out and goes to black. At the end of the night, she leaves the place with worry and concern for the kid, despite seeing his potential clear as day. And does he have a _lot of it._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Request stuff to Tumblr/heyoricohannah. Jyrus Gallavich and Jonnor!  
> LEAVE COMMENTS!


	11. That's The Way We Get By:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey isn't going to let ROTC slip through his fingers this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fake lyrics I wrote in this are pretty cringey. I may be a fic writer, but most definitely not a songwriter aha. <3

Because of the rush of adrenaline, flight, and insane hyperactivity levels he's on right now, Mickey bursts into the house shamelessly singing at the top of his lungs.  
" _YOU LOOK UP AT THE SIGN AND THE SIGN SAYS 'NO WAY!' YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA GET THERE BUT SOON YOU KNOW YOU'LL PAY. DIDN'T HEAR IT FROM MEEE..."_  
He has no idea what the hell he's doing. He feels intoxicated despite not being. He does small twists and turns in the kitchen, randomly opening and closing the nearest drawers he can find. He's never realized how _great_ some good music can make him feel. So alive.   
It's more than just blindly following Ian's suggestions and recommendations from being so love sick and love blind. He _legitimately_ loves this fucking band.  
In fact, since all of his brothers are out late, he decides to show how much he loves Syndicated Alien by disrupting Mandy's peaceful sleep and screaming lyrics in her ears.  
" _HOLD ME UP THEN TEAR ME DOWN, YOU KNOW YOU'VE SEEN IT AROUND TOWN. TOUCH MY SHIT TO DEMAND A SCORE,"_ he bursts into her room singing while flickering on and off the lights, as if their electricity wasn't at risk enough.   
She's already groaning and rolling over under her blankets. "Ugh, _fuck off_ fuck wad! There's this thing called _school tomorrow,"_ she grunts.  
" _SHE SAID LEAVE IT ON THE FIRE MANTLE, DON'T WANNA LEAVE IT MANGLED--"_ his choice to jump up on her bed and sing directly in her ear gets him pushed onto the floor.  
" _Fuck off!"_ She's growing more agitated at his laughing. "It's not _funny_ Mickey; you're an _asshole._ "  
"It's _pretty_ fucking funny," he can't stop smiling, palms placed against the floor and standing up.  
" _Out!"_ She makes sure to throw a fresh pillow towards him as he laughs his way out.  
This is the most typically normal he's felt in a _long,_ long time.  
It's been too long.  
But that good ol' Milkovich lifestyle is about to kick right back in, especially since tired Mandy forgot to mention that Terry's hangover has been disturbed.  
"What the _fuck_ is all that noise?!" His grogginess is no secret, head spinning and body assertively stumbling into the room.  
In that moment everything for Mickey is switching off and on.  
Off goes his heart, breathing, and the light of happiness in his eyes, but on goes his reflexes. On turns his anxiety, worst case scenarios and high heart rate levels. Up goes his blood pressure, and down goes his hopes.  
All hope has been drained. Every positive emotion possible in this cruel world, is drained and swept away entirely when cruel Terry Milkovich enters the room.  
His feet which were just previously tapping and dancing around; running to eagerly annoy his sister, are now implanted into the floor in a case of life or death.  
He always liked to think-and still does-that if he doesn't move an inch, then he'll automatically become unnoticed. He wishes he could disappear not just into invisibility, but not be there at all in any way.  
Terry is terrible at doing all things while terribly hungover, except for pissing, smoking one thing or another, drinking all over again, and beating his children.  
This time is no exception. Especially since Mickey made a mistake he didn't even know he had to watch out for.  
He now knows what people mean when they say that you can never be too careful.   
He hates himself for not taking that rule to heart the day that abuse started.   
Besides when Terry came around, his children have always been the opposite of careful. Careless, reckless, and an adrenaline junkies.  
He brings out the worst in them with the worst intent.  
The young boy can't help panting wildly when being shoved up against the wall closest behind. Terry pounces at him like the animal he is, growling when having him in his hold; in his trap.  
"You make _any_ more noise like that, and you're fucking _dead._ You understand?" He says into his ear, able to feel his chest heaving up in the process of hyperventilating.  
"Yes..." His trembling exposes the vulnerability that Terry doesn't allow.  
"Yes _what._ "  
"Yes sir..." His tears might just be be shaking off his face.  
"Get the _fuck_ to bed, and don't wake the _fuck up."_ Terry's last words to his son are telling him to die in his sleep, after taking a relieving step back and before creeping back into his room.  
Despite now being alone and away from his abuser, Mickey is trembling down to the ground shaking and crying harder than he once was.  
He hates to admit his fear-his prediction-that Terry will one day kill him.

Knowing that the man can barge into his room to interrupt his attempted sleep by beating him any second, doesn't exactly settle well with Mickey while he's trying to block away the pain with sleep alone in his bed.  
He swears the only thing that's remaining him calm is the lyrics stuck in his head. While he does desperately squeeze the sheets for feeling and still trembles above the mattress, the soundtrack in his head gives him a hint of satisfaction.   
He'll take what he can get.  
He still jumps up for a quick second prior to entirely shutting down his body and not making a sound, despite knowing it's his noisy ass brothers due to hearing their obnoxious talking and laughing beforehand when they came into the house.   
Terry must've passed out by now if he's not causing another frenzy and sending more threats.  
The over-talking and talking over one another agitates Mickey severely, covering both ears with his only pillow and considering chucking it at them if they don't shut the fuck up.  
"He asleep?" Joey's noticing of the youngest brother's still body resting in the bed ends their overlapped conversation.  
Mick's hopes that they wouldn't be disturbing him any further are ruined, when Jaime is poking at him and saying his name. The touch catches him off guard, causing an automatic jump and having him sit up frantically with clenched teeth and panting breath.  
Knowing the one thing that could mean, Jaime returns Mickey's eager defensive eyes with a saddened pair of his own. The room turns painfully uncomfortable.  
" _Don't_ fucking touch me," Mick growls.  
"Okay, _okay-_ "  
" _Don't."_  
" _Alright"_ he knows to take his hand away. "H-he's not here right now, okay? It's us."  
"Well don't _fuckin'_ storm into the house like that being all loud!" 'Like I was just doing' he then thinks, before continuing his protective service announcement.  
"You're lucky he was passed out because if he wasn't then you _know_ he woulda-" he can't even let himself continue, not wanting to speak the situation's reality out loud.   
He's returned to crying, breaths coming out heavily and full of panic from how horribly overwhelmed and terrified he's gone to feeling.  
The fact that this evening was turning out _so_ good; discovering the kick ass band that sent him to cloud nine, singing out loud in the kitchen and verbally overpowering Mandy, the fact that the day was strolling by nicely; having a nice conversation with Ian and getting to run around with Lip, only it to be fucking _ruined_ by the man who had his _poor_ wittle hangover disturbed--a hangover he wouldn't even have if he didn't fucking get _wasted_ all the time! _Fuck._ _Him. He's_ the reason Mickey, or any of his kids rarely ever feel any happiness.  
Seeing his brother respond like this for the first time in a long time, cracks something inside of Jaime and has him send the other guys out of the room.  
"Go check on Mandy... _Go!"_ He demands they respond and obey.  
Mickey flinches at the intense use of Jaime's voice, and be would comforted with a touch to his back if he wasn't so skittish about it because of somebody.  
Mickey knows it's coming. The talk, the speech. The words of wisdom Jaimie usually has for him, for all of them when things are getting really truly rough.   
He's the most high functioning out of all of them. The one that has no problem risking it all and aiming his spirits high no matter how shitty things get.   
Mickey doesn't know how he possibly does it, still only being a junior in high school and all, but what he does know, is that it's one of the many things he admires about him.  
Okay, maybe out of only a few things, but the strength _does_ greatly stand out.  
"You can tell me what happened..." He offers once it's just the two of him, sitting down next to where his sat knees stick out of the sheets.   
"He's gonna kill me..." he confesses with break in his voice, eyes already shining with liquid at the simple but not so uncanny thought. "I-I know he is. He's gonna kill just like he killed Mom..." down the tears go.   
"He won't because I'll fucking kill him first."  
All of the Milkovich kids have talked about killing Terry, wishing upon stars, blowing out birthday candles when they actually had birthday celebrations; hell Mandy even recalls praying about it in the Catholic Church.  
They've said that afterwards they would burn the body and become runways, but that's as far as they've let their fantasies grow.   
They're still technically minors. Joey would be eighteen by then, and that's still crazily young in the real world.   
Yes they technically function and pay the bills on their own, but the house is still under Terry's name. They would be able to get the money in legal and not so legal ways, but how would they be able to spend it on an actual home?   
Where would they go, what would they see, what would they do...  
Knowing the fact that Terry's no longer with them, would be enough motivation to keep going. Because of Terry, and _for_ their mother.  
"How...?" Mickey is actually terrified at the thought of getting away with the murder of his father. Is it deserved? Yes. Is it risky and guilt consuming? Hell yeah.   
And it wouldn't be because of whose life they took; it'd be the simple crime of murder that would keep him up every night. Just being an accomplice--a witness, gives him chills.  
As crazy as it sounds, he wouldn't want to leave this town.   
They'd have to stage a suicide or an overdose, like the man himself did with his victim of a wife, and do what they can to cover their tracks all while still staying in town.  
Besides, half of the town wouldn't be too blameful if they found out the truth anyway.  
He wonders if Terry's made a name for himself around town; throughout all the bars, strip joints, and gas stations he's been to.   
_Those_ are his homes. Not the house he _scammed_ into getting to get away from an unknown murder scene.   
"I'll figure it out-"  
"Well we can't leave." A freshly tear faced Mickey interrupts.  
"What are you talking about? Of course we can. We'd kinda have to, wouldn't we?"  
"No, I, I don't want to..."  
But Jaimie sees his little brother's innocent plea as nothing but foolish overthinking.  
"Mickey..." He sighs. "You'll make new friends."  
Mickey cringes, knowing that he knows exactly what this about. " _No!_ I-I _won't_." He panics. "This is about those Gallagher kids, isn't it."  
"They're not just _those_ ' _Gallagher_ _kids_ ', Jaime. It's the first time I've ever really 'had something' with someone. Let alone two people. I-I can't just disappear. B-but Dad can and know one will ever have to know-!"  
"Are you _crazy_ Mickey?! We can't _stay_ here once it's been done."   
"I don't _care!_ Whether we _kill_ Dad, or _don't_ kill Dad...I'm not leaving. You can't make me." His voice is fragile and tight muscled hands squeezing onto his blanket.  
Jaime can see it. The hurt in his eyes. The desperation and craving to just feel like a _normal_ goddamn kid for once. To do things that goddamn normal kids do like dicking around town with their friends and goofing off in random diners.  
Not expecting a routinely beating from their father every night and having to live with the fact that his Mom-the only decent parental figure to ever exist in his life-was murdered by him.  
Can it really only just be one or the other? Do the special connections make the beatings worth it, and vice versa?   
Lip's not just some jackass he hangs around. And Ian's not just some crush.  
There's something special, something so refreshing lasting between all of them, something Mickey never known to be possible. At least with _him_ in _this_ life. With _this_ kinda luck?   
_Bullshit._ That kind of thing does _not_ happen to a Milkovich. Let alone the _fourteen_ _year_ - _old_ who is paraded in battle scars with no self esteem left and sexuality issues.  
Until it did.  
Knowing to approach with caution, Jaimie's touch to his brother's shoulder is light. He pours out a long heaving sigh.  
"I just don't want you or the rest of us to have to keep suffering. That's all..." His voice turns crisp.  
"I-I don't want you to feel like I'm making you guys stay here-"  
"No, Mickey." He shuts down his panic. "You're not. Virginia was an even worse shit show. We all know it. This, this is like a new start."  
"Yeah" this is what Mickey has been wanting them to understand all along. "Do you like it here...?" He worries for a no to be spoken.  
"We're all still adapting..." Is his answer speaking for all of them, ruffling his hair and signaling he rests back down.  
Their attention is brought to wall the bed rests up against, Mickey growing startled at the loud bang coming from the other room.  
To him, a loud noise, near or far, usually means that something terrible is happening.  
The muddled laughter from Mandy and the last two brothers washes over Mick and Jaimie like a wave that was expected for arrival.  
It's a wave that these children only receive every so often.  
So, he eventually yet peacefully falls asleep with cherry background noises that only come around for them once in a lifetime, one of three protective older brothers staying by his side, and wishful thoughts about the Gallagher brothers in his mind.

Since Terry went AWOL again and Mickey's looking forward to seeing Lip more than usual, he feels that the next morning is the perfect time to do some Syndicated Alien shout-screaming for all of his breakfast focused siblings to hear.  
" _WHOA_ WHOA WHOA WHOAAAAA WHERE YOU GONNA GO GO, GET THE FUCK OUT OR YOU'LL MISS THE SHO-OW," He yells in the direction of the table that everyone else is trying to enjoy their breakfast at.  
" _Mickey!_ We _get_ _it_ \--you jizz over a fucking gay ass band now." Iggy insults, wanting to stick his head into his cereal.   
"You're just _jealous_ because I have better music taste than you," he claims, walking over and taking a quick bite out of the sugar bowl.   
Mandy crinkles her nose.  
"He's only obsessing over them because Ian told him to listen to them" Jaimie raises her voice with the intent of purpose.   
"I told you not to _TELL_ _ANYONE_ _ABOUT_ _THAT; JESUS!"_ Mickey's yelling over the playful and teasing 'awwws' of all the other siblings.  
He flicks a spoonful onto the floor with his held silverware.  
The ringing of the telephone on the wall brings has the spoon dropped back onto the right sided counter, and both he and Mandy's eyes piercing in its direction.  
" _NO!_ NO!"  
"It's _MINE!"_ They had both gotten there in a flash in the same moment, and the siblings who are seated have a good time laughing and smiling at the sight of them fighting over the phone once more.   
They grunt and groan, aiming for the nipples knowing that the call will end if they keep it up.  
" _NO_ _TITTY_ _TWISTERS!_ "  
" _THEN_ _NO PURPLE NURPLES EITHER, BITCH_!" Mick is the one to grab the phone so hard that it slips out of his hand and hangs just above the floor.   
"Hello??" He's jumping to his knees and holding the device to his ear in hopes that whoever it is didn't somehow hear any of that.  
"Hey," There were only two seconds of silence for Lip after being signaled of the phone actually being picked up.  
"Oh, _hey_ _Lip,"_ still on his knees Mickey glares up at his sister with a scowl knowing she's been proven wrong.  
Huffing and flipping him off, she stomps back over to the table with her arms crossed. Iggy snickers across from her, with a visible smirk on his face.  
The eyes looking at him might as well be burning his facial structure.  
"Top of the mornin', Mick. You going to school today?"  
"Why wouldn't I be?" He crinkles and forehead and lets out a small laugh.   
He's too focused to be letting the uncomfortable pain growing in his phone holding arm affect him.  
"Just checking, just checking," he can tell when Lip is grinning at himself by his cocky tone of voice.  
"And _yes,_ before you ask Ian _is_ going to be there."   
Ian isn't in the boys' room right now, so Lip feels that he can tease Mickey about him as much as he wants, while choosing to ignore the wide open door across from where he stands. Eh, the kitchen is always a ruckus in the morning-which Mickey can even easily hear-so it's not like Ian can hear anything coming from the second story floor anyway.  
Mandy's smiling at the deep dark redness on Mickey's face that's now front and center.  
"Chyeah," he scoffs out after getting used to the sweat leaking of his pits.   
"I _know_ that, asshole."  
Lip laughs at his embarrassed assertion, and he can practically feel his eyes rolling all the way over the other line.   
This is only furthering the grin on his face.  
"So since you most definitely are coming to school, I guess I'll see you soon-"  
Lip's post seized opportunity comment, is interrupted by the sound of the use of Kevin's electric saw and Ian's panicking.  
"Uhhhh what the fuck is that..." Mickey is finally standing up, yet slowly from confusion.  
"Uh, Ian's getting his cast off..." After that's said he decides to let the downstairs noises awkwardly lurk on, which Mickey furrows his brow at.  
"Is he gonna be okay...?" He actually shows genuine concern for someone who's not his sibling, for once.  
"He'll be fine yeah bye Mick I'll see you at school!"  
That same Mick is hung up before he can say goodbye.  
He hangs up the phone speechless and feeling somewhat left out.   
Turning around to his siblings smugly staring him down doesn't help his mood of uneasiness.  
" _What,_ assholes?"  
"So which one of them is your boyfriend?" Iggy grins, having the rest of his seated siblings giggle with laughter.  
" _None_ of them, you smug asshole." If they could afford it, Mickey would pull that damn phone out of the wall and throw it at him.  
"You mean neither of them." Mandy corrects him.  
" _Whatever!_ "   
He's laughed at again. "Oh what are _you_ assholes laughing about; _you_ wouldn't have known that shit either." He snaps to his brothers.  
"Maybe you can learn better grammar so you can impress Ian," Joey teases openly, and Mick's ears turn red at the next round of laughter.  
"You guys are so fucking _ridiculous-"_

"Uhhhh hey Ian. How art thou?" Their interaction in the main hallway is starting out quite interestingly.  
Ian snickers. "You reading Shakespeare?" He assumes, showing a goofy grin that has Mickey just about melt.  
"Yup that's it. Uh did you know he came up with the saying 'break the ice'?" He remembers what he can from his excessive research on the school library's computer before making his way over.   
Lip, who's entering their earshot from behind with crossed arms and raised brown, can see right through Mickey's facade and is doing what he can not not burst out into hysterics.  
"Mickey Milkovich? Having a conversation about education? Never thought I'd see the day."  
"Nice to see you _too,_ asshole." Mick drops the act by turning around and scowling right into his eyes.  
He giggles in response, flashing him a lighthearted smirk.  
"Don't _flatter_ yourself, princess."   
Ian laughs at their interaction.  
"So, uh-uh I see you got your cast off..." Mickey turns around and tries to not stare at Ian's healed leg too much.  
"Yup," he laughs nervously.  
"Our neighbor cut it off with an electric saw" Lip chimes in, and Mickey comments " _Sweet_."  
They both chuckle at him.  
"So uh, you gonna start back with ROTC?"  
"Nah, not just yet. Like I said I wanna go back when your application gets approved. So we can do it together."   
Mickey swears to God every time he hears Ian say that he might just start bleeding out of his ears.  
"Really...?" He can't feel one bone in his body.   
"Yeah." Ian smiles over at him. "I'm gonna get to class," he looks at Lip. "Bye guys."  
By the time he's gone Mickey is almost shaking.  
"Holy _shit..."_ he declares.   
If he thinks he's freaking out, he should see Ian's nervous and sweaty self jogging down the hall with shaking hands and a giddy grin on his face.  
He can't believe he just had the courage to say that to him. Is he being too obvious? Clingy? Annoying? Either way, he's just glad he fucking said it.   
Of course he wants to be with Mickey as much as he can, but he doesn't want to hang onto his every move either; being around him constantly and getting on his every last nerve.  
Not that Mickey would mind at all, though.   
In fact, he would have it the exact same way. Being around Lip and Ian as much as he is already puts him on a cloud he could never name or describe.   
He wish Ian knew that.  
Laughing at his flustering, Lip grins ear to ear and playfully shakes Mickey by his sides. "There you _go,_ man!" He smiles, and Mick waits for him to let go with an appreciated smile.   
"Y-you really think he meant that...?" He's still tingling in places he didn't know that could tingle.  
"Of _course_ he meant that, Mick. Do you know how serious he is about ROTC? He's pushing it back for you."   
"B-but who even said I'll get in?"  
"Why wouldn't _you,_ man?" Lip cringes at such wonder.  
"Well for one, I _kinda_ ripped up my forms when I found out waiting for a final answer is gonna be a long wait..." he admits.   
This is the first time he's ever seen Lip look so angry.  
"You _what?!_ "  
" _Calm_ _your_ _ass-"_  
"You're meaning to tell me you have to fill out those damn forms _again?_ And turn them in _again?_ "  
"Yes..."  
So, they sprint their entire way down to the office, hastily apologizing when pushing past and running into people, almost tripping over themselves and each other plenty of times.  
"Mickhalio..." Mrs. Callaster suspiciously observes the two boys panting and struggling to not fall over, separated by her desk before her.  
"Hey Mrs. Callaster..." it comes out in a breath.  
"Who's your friend?"  
"Uh, t-this is Lip Gallagher. A.P student" he feels that if he shows off the qualities of his friend it'll somehow make him look like a better person.  
"Right?" He makes sure, looking over and wiping away his own sweat.  
"Yeah."  
"Thought so."  
"'Lip'?" She questions.  
"Uh, full name Phillip," he clarifies.   
"Shouldn't have told her that," Mick mutters, knowing about the strict 'full name only' rule she seems to have.  
They look back over at her at once.  
She waits patiently for them to begin.  
"So, get this...I need more ROTC forms."  
" _Again?_ "  
"Yeah! Remember the last ones I had got lost?" He tries to refresh her memory in a not so truthful way.  
"You mean the ones you ripped them up in anger only for me to find the shreds in the hallway?"  
Lip chortles.  
"Yeah, that..."  
"You'll get one last chance, Mickhalio."  
" _What?!_ That's not _fair!_ The first two times weren't even my _fault!"_   
"No, but the last time was in fact a cause from your anger." Her hands neatly fold.  
"Only because you _pissed_ _me_ _off!_ "  
" _I_ was only telling you the truth. Except now, there's been a recent fortunate change."  
"What change," Lip asks.  
"It shouldn't take that long for forms to be approved or denied anymore. There was a rule change."  
"W-well that's _awesome_ ," Mickey's flabbergasted self can't believe it. "Can I have one? I _promise_ I'll get them in. I'll fill the whole thing out in front of you right now." He's more determined than ever.  
"That's the other news."  
"What is..."  
"We're out of copies, right now. We should be getting a fresh batch tomorrow."  
"What-can't you just print some out?" Mick frowns.  
"I don't have that privilege, Mr. Milkovich."  
"Well then get the surgeon to do it!"  
" _Sargent_ " she and Lip freshly correct him together.  
" _Whatever._ "   
He now frustratingly groans. "You _better_ get me a good as new form to fill out or so help me God!" He leans closer towards her for mass effect, trying his best to sound threatening.  
"I can promise you you'll be the first to know when new forms have arrived, Mr. Milkovich."  
He groans again. "Come _on,_ Lip. Let's leave with our dignity." He now knows he must display confidence.  
But, "What?" Lip doesn't get it.  
"Ugh, you people are so _hopeless!_ " He rants, squeezing him by the wrist and dragging him out with a lack of empathy.  
" _Jesus,_ Mickey. _Chill_ _out!_ "   
That's the last thing Callaster hears before their official departure, the first thing she hears after their exiting being her own laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback please! :D


	12. Through The Cracks:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lip doesn't understand how romantic feelings can turn two people so crazy.  
> Those two people specifically being Ian and Mickey.  
> Because who else would they be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoyyyyy :)  
> (I wonder if thatoneweeb audibly gasped gasped ;) )

At lunchtime, when Mickey is looking perfectly forward to eating his BLT, Lip drags him out to the ROTC field in full force.  
"Lip, why the _fuck_ are we eating lunch out here," he shrills, now squeezing the sandwich with rage.  
Mayonnaise flies out and into the grass.  
" _Because,"_ Lip starts.  
"I'm here to train you."  
"For _what."_ Mickey both chews and speaks with his mouth open.  
"For _ROTC you dumb fuck!"_ Lip snatches the sandwich.  
The older boy with rage and hunger throughout him, scowls for a good four seconds with big eyes and chewed food visible within his mouth, before spitting that food right onto Lip's face.  
The sandwich falls to the ground when Lip attacks him down over next to it.  
They grunt and yell, wrestling each other the best they can for up to almost one full minute, Lip accidentally rolling Mickey over his own sandwich and making him bite him.  
" _OWE!"  
"IF I CAN'T EAT MY SANDWICH I'LL EAT YOU, BITCH!"  
"THIS IS WHY IAN'S_ _NEVER GONNA LOVE YOU-! OKAY I_ _TAKE IT BACK_ _OWE_ _OWE OWE-!_ " Mickey pinches Lip's arm as forcefully as he can, to see what will happen if he says anything like that again.  
Just so he'll stop screaming and that people won't hear him, Mick takes away the hold of skin between his two uncut nails, and pins him down ruthlessly.  
Once they both regain their breath, Lip stares up at him with not only a face of chewed food, but dirt and grass.  
"Yeah, I think you'll be fine..." He foresees, losing the circulation in his wrist due to how much Mickey is clutching onto them.  
After slowly standing up while coughing and stretching from weakness, Mickey spots his damaged but still edible looking sandwich on the ground and picks it up.  
"I hate you..." Lip says, cringing at Mick who's now staring right at him while again chewing visibly.  
"Want some?" Mickey smirks, handing it forward.  
" _No!"_ And they laugh.  
"What makes you so sure I'm gonna get into ROTC anyways..." Mickey wonders after their sounds have died down.  
"You're _kidding_ , right? You're practically _perfect_ for something like that."  
He cringes. "Nah, man. The only reason I'm joining is because--ya know..." Now blushing, he doesn't want his name to be said.  
"Well it doesn't _have_ to be. You'd be good in the forces."  
"I _guess,_ if I actually _listened._ A bunch of guys screaming at me what to do all the time? _No thanks_."  
"Thanks how it is, Mick'." Lip chuckles at his attitude.  
"Yeah well I already get enough 'a that shit at home." He snaps with piece of mucky sandwich in his mouth that he's in the middle of chewing. Almost choking on a piece of grass, the growing size of his eyes reveal he realized what he just uttered.  
Tensing up, Lip stares at him deeply, feeling sorry for him and wishing he wasn't all that surprised. The only question on his his mind is what level the situation is _on._  
Meanwhile, Lip knowing about the problems in his home are the least of Mickey's worries.  
_Should_ he be doing this, even if it _is_ just for a crush?  
Lip's right. Despite it only being JROTC, it's going to be _fast, loud, and_ _overwhelming._ Even for _Mickey_. Lord only knows how he'd be in the _actual forces._  
He'd be offing himself within the first five minutes because of new _and_ old traumas.  
"Mick. _Mick._ "  
"Huh?" He jumps.  
"You okay?" He asks, though he wants to tell him that it is okay; when he's around him in this environment.  
"Can we just, _go_ back to the cafeteria, please?" Mick purposely avoids the topic, twitching his eye and turning away forcefully.  
Sensing his hurt, Lip stares at him shamefully with pressed lips and dead eyes.  
"Hey..." His assumptions of physical abuse are only confirmed when Mickey jumps again, and more intensely this time after Lip touches his shoulder.  
" _What._ " He now glares him down, refusing to address the problems lingering through the air.  
"Um..."  
Mickey doesn't like hearing the dramatized sigh he releases.  
"I don't know how bad it is for you guys, at home..."  
Oh he doesn't want to know.  
"But, my living situation isn't exactly the best time either. Not that I'm having a 'who has it worst' contest or some shit, but..."  
With impatient eyebrows, Mickey waits for him to continue.  
"My Dad's a drunk."  
Mickey would tell him the same, but he doubts it's to the same extreme as Terry.  
"He's--a narcissist. Only cares about himself, trying to make himself the victim all the time. He's, he's a fucking _asshole."_ Lip rolls his eyes at the thought.  
"Yeah, uh, my Dad's kinda the same way..." Mick says.  
Unless it's not Terry's job to make his own self the victim. It's his job to make everyone _else_ the victim, with no remorse whatsoever.  
"Um...What about your Mom?" He hesitatingly asks.  
"She's...She's not around so much. She's bipolar."  
"What's that?"  
"It's like, where one period of time you're _ecstatically_ insanely happy, and the next you're nothing but depressed, and suicidal..."  
"Like, how happy does she get...?" Mick dares to wonder.  
"Where she forgets her morals. It's like...She's on a drug. And that drug makes her believe she can do anything and it won't have any effect on the world around her. It's not like she means to get like that-"  
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah she can't help it..." Mickey's starting to understand.  
"Yeah," Lip nods.  
"I'm sorry." He starts.  
"Don't be...You can't control it."  
"Does she love you?" He blurts, and Lip almost jumps, any emotion of wellness draining from his eyes.  
"Um...Deep down, I think, yes. She just shows it in the worst ways...She wants to be a parent, she just doesn't know how to..."  
"Oh," Mick nods.  
He remembers when his own mother could love him all too well.  
"What about your Dad?"  
"Frank?" Lip's scoffing and rolling his eyes to no end. "It's a strange concept with him. He's not out to get us or anything. Like there's no hate towards us. It's just..."  
"All about him and only him." Mick concludes.  
"Exactly. He only resents us when we don't 'give him what he wants.' A room to sleep in, money..." Lip can't control his irritability now.  
" _Asshole."_ Mickey blurts.  
Lip's mood does a one eighty, day changing thoughts of his conceited Dad falling from his mind and being replaced with relief that Mickey's with him right now.  
His grin grows slowly, but is ear to ear by the time it's finished.  
Once Mick does the same, they're both laughing until their eyes are watering and their stomachs hurt.  
"You talking about yourself?" Lip jokes, the laughter only growing louder when Mick tells him to go fuck himself.  
Afterwards, Mick is asking if they can finally going back to the cafeteria, and on their way back, he drops his sandwich and turns towards him.  
"Uh, I really think I should tell him I don't wanna be doing ROTC. You even think he'll care?"  
Lip almost spits up his salvia at that question. "Of _course_ he'll care. He'll be disappointed. But he'll understand."  
"Understand that the commander and chief 'l give me household flashbacks?" Mick raises an eyebrow.  
"Just say it's not your thing," Lip purposely gazes at what's in front of him, now.  
"I can't lie to him, though."  
"Then just say _he_ was the only reason you wanted to join anyway," Lip's smirking profoundly.  
"I can't tell him _that!_ " Mickey turns into a red faced mess. "That-that's gay!"  
"Exactly." They both stop walking and Lip grins at him.  
"You know you think you're being really funny and amusing when you're just a major dick." Mickey retorts.  
"Is that so?" Lip laughs.  
" _Speak fucking_ _English._ " Lip only laughs more when Mickey's pushing him out of agitation.  
"Really? 'Cause if I recall correctly _you_ were researching Early Modern English for the intent of impressing my brother."  
"Kill yourself."  
Lip laughs again but pushes him this time, when they've resumed their stroll back into the building.

In the cafeteria, where he was peacefully eating his sandwich before Lip dragged him along and ruined everything, Mickey grows rather impatient sitting down next to him and having to wait for Ian to stop talking to his male friend from their own table twenty feet away, so he can walk over to them and watch Mick shoo Lip away.  
"Who the hell _is_ that?" He asks.  
"Like hell _I_ know. Probably some guy from ROTC. That he doesn't go to anymore because of you."  
"You know better yet you can _leave_ now," he gestures him off, and Lip laughs on his way over towards Ian to tell him that Mickey's oh so nervously waiting.  
Oh so nervously waiting Mickey's entire body clenches, seeing Lip going to inform Ian that he wants to talk, meaning that he's going to have to plan out his words faster.  
" _Fuck fuck fuck..."_ he whispers, witnessing Lip interrupting their conversation and point right over to him.  
Mickey almost jumps out of his seat when Ian looks over.  
Ian says one last thing to Lip, hastily farewells mystery boy, and just about sprints his way over.  
"Hey Mick," he sits right down in the seat adjacent, and Mickey's eyes boggle at his enthusiasm. He's probably so happy because he was having a perfectly perfect conversation with _Mr. Charming_ over there, when he's actually so enthusiastic because of the conversation he knows he's going to have right _now._  
Except he won't be so happy when the details are laid out on the surface.  
"Oh, uh, hey Ian..." He's still honestly so surprised of Ian's attitude. Maybe he had something sugary. Who fucking knows.  
Mickey really needs to start recognizing that maybe, just maybe, Ian acts this such joyous way _because_ of him.  
"Uh, I just wanted to let you know, that..."  
According to the eagerness on Ian's face, everything else can wait.  
"I'm not gonna be doing ROTC, afterwards."  
Or maybe it can.  
"What...?"  
_Lie. Take it back. Say you were just kidding._ Mickey would do just about anything to get that poor look off of the younger boy's face.  
"Uh-uh--I just..." He needs to say it in a way that won't give away too much, but will still let Ian know just enough.  
"It-it'll be overwhelming..."  
"Yeah..." Ian nods, trying his best to understand. "Uh, overwhelming like how...?" He doesn't want to sound too demanding or pushy.  
"Uh..."  
' _The commander and chief screaming at us half the time will give me household flashbacks.'_  
"Just...The overstimulation, and stuff..."  
"Ah," Ian nods, kind of getting the gist but still wanting to make sure.  
"A-and you think that's what'll be best for you?"  
"Yeah." Mickey knows he would if he could.  
"Um, you never had to join in the first place if you felt like I was pressuring you..." Ian feels bad now.  
" _No! No._ Not at all. Ummm..."  
' _Just say it, jackass. It shouldn't come off as too gay.'_  
"The only reason I was really only joining was because I was interested in you."  
Then and there Ian almost melts out of his chair.  
_It's happening._  
"A-as a person, you know?" Mickey covers up, fearing that he's said too much.  
"Well I _am_ a person," Ian considers, chuckling weakly.  
Mickey laughs, trying not to get too caught up within the moment. How could one human being be so cute about _how_ they are a human being?  
"Yeah...Uh, so I kinda just wanted to tell you that..."  
"That's all?" Ian at least hopes their conversation to continue.  
Mickey flinches. _'Is he testing me? Damn he's good.'_  
"Uh-uh I--"  
"Actually, uh..." Ian's had enough of himself in this environment; contributing embarrassing dialogue and acting like he's ready to pounce every other sentence.  
"I..I'm gonna go..." His throat is dry but mouth watery.  
"Oh..." Mick doesn't like the sound of that, catching onto the vibe that Ian must be somehow embarrassed.  
"I-I'm sorry--" Ian shoots up and is making a run for it, pushing people in his way and almost stumbling over himself as a whole all the way out the lunchroom, wiping away his newborn tears at his first stop in the hallway.  
Still blocking the entrance, he repeatedly sniffles and runs to the bathroom, throwing himself in and breaking down because of the same reason Mickey said he couldn't do ROTC.  
Too overwhelmed. Pure overstimulation.  
Or was that even it?  
Ian wants to bet all of the money he has-which isn't a lot-that it's because of him.  
The money he wishes he could use to attend a Syndicated Alien concert with. Like Mickey even looked up the band, or remembers Ian telling him about it.  
A boy can dream. The same dreaming boy that doesn't know his dreams are anything but.

Lip doesn't really like the sight of Mickey looking like he's going to snap into an anxiety attack after Ian frenzied away from their table, and shoots over there to figure out the problem.  
"What- _what_ -what is going on; what the _fuck_ happened between you two..." Reading lips isn't exactly his profession.  
"I-I-I told him I can't do ROTC and-and he ran off-did-did I upset him-?!" Mick is almost in tears.  
" _Whoa. Whoa. Mickey_. Chill out. Okay?" Lip touches his wrist for peaceful simulation.  
"He's not upset in an angry way he-he's upset in--a sad way." That makes it worse for Mickey.  
"I don't wanna make him _sad!"_  
Lip's only option is to now shush him calmly and force eye contact.  
"Mickey Mickey _hey,_ I'll talk to him okay? _Don't_ worry-"  
"Lip you _have_ to tell him why I really can't do it. I-I'm too embarrassed to do it myself. I know you guys have it bad at home too but I--I just _can't_ explain it right now, okay?" He wipes a tear from his face.  
"Yeah, yeah..." Lip lightly touches his shoulders.  
"Thanks, Lip..." His voice rasps.  
They share a hug, not short enough to lack any emotion and not long enough because of Mickey's self conscious orders.  
" _Enough this is gay_ ," he pushes him off, and laughs along when Lip guffaws.  
"Oh right sorry I forgot you were saving all your hugs for my brother."  
"Fuck you." Mickey's already trying not to get a boner at the simple thought.  
The other boy grins sheepishly and mischievously.

He enters the boys' bathroom with caution, not only because he's probably walking in on Ian in the middle of a vulnerable breakdown, but because he usually tries to avoids this place at all costs. He can't believe he's fucked over a dozen girls in here. Is he really _that_ trashy?  
"Ian..." He can hear his cries from inside one of the right end stalls.  
"Don't crawl under. I'm a mess."  
"Why are you in the handicapped stall?" He realizes, walking closer to where his brother cries behind.  
"It's easier to cry in..."  
This brings out a sigh from the older one.  
"Ian, come on out. Or I really _will_ crawl under."  
Being the one to sight next, Ian harshly opens the stall door, moping more as it hits back against the wall.  
"Ian..." Lip sadly observes his stuffed red colored nose and tears still sitting at the edge of his eyes.  
"He probably thinks I'm _such_ a freak."  
"Ian _no. No-"_  
"I already _am_ one."  
"No you're _not._ You like someone, and it can make you do irrational things."  
_Case and point Mickey._  
"And that's _totally_ okay." He concludes.  
"Doubt he likes _me._ Now I betcha he thinks I'm some sort of-"  
"Ian Mickey's _crazy_ about you!" Lip doesn't mean to blurt it out so suddenly, and most _certainly_ didn't mean to blurt it out so loudly that it _echoes_ off the ceiling.  
" _What?"_ Ian's entire body has resorted to lockdown, but his mind is bouncing off the walls.  
_Fuck. Mickey's gonna_ _kill him._  
"Uh-he-doesn't _hate_ you, Ian. He thinks you're cool. There are _no_ hard feelings."  
Figuratively, at least.  
"Really? Mickey thinks _I'm_ cool?" The younger one blinks with fascination.  
"Yeah, man." Lip shows a tiny smile. "And why _wouldn't_ he? You're a badass ROTC bitch." He grins.  
Ian giggles. "I guess. I was really looking forward to him joining, though..."  
Lip can tell.  
"Uh, about that, man..."  
Ian's back to mentally panicking, his terrified expression saying so.  
"The whole ROTC thing, it is not you. It's...It wouldn't really be a safe environment for him."  
"What do you mean?" He grows concerned.  
"His home life...From what I've been told-and I haven't been told much--I, I think he's abused."  
" _What?_ "  
"It makes sense don't you think? He's not the only one that's always bruised up all the time. Mandy is too. _All of them_ are. It would explain why they're violent too; that the behavior rubs off on them-"  
"We _gotta_ do something about it."  
"I think they would have if they could have by now, Ian. They're capable. It just seems...Complicated."  
" _Geez,_ " Ian whispers, running a hand through his hair and wiping away his forehead sweat.  
"You think their Dad is worse than Frank?"  
"Probably, yeah. Shocking, I know."  
" _Fuck..."_ Ian doesn't want to imagine a father worse than his own, of all people. But he always _does_ have to remind himself that it could be worse.  
Frank isn't physically abusive, besides a few rare occasions with a punch to Ian's face last year, and a slap across Lip's head when he was twelve.  
Frank isn't _purposely_ out to get his kids; out for revenge. That's the _point._ He doesn't _care._ It may be all about him and _his_ needs, but all the Gallagher kids can admit they'd rather take neglect than receiving _evil maniacal_ attention.  
But at the Milkovich house; they can sense something is different.  
Someone is running the place. And when they're not, the kids are running wild and free on their own.  
There's an enemy that needs to be taken down; an enemy _much worse_ than Frank.  
Which is still quite hard to imagine.  
"You _can't_ say anything to him, okay Ian? He never admitted to the abuse, but it's something easy to pick up on."  
"I won't..." He figures that if the kids can handle themselves and the situation on their own for as long as they have, they can hold on for a little while longer until justice can come through from unexpected layers.  
"I, uh, told him about _our_ marvelous home life. And considering _his_ I don't think he's judging."  
"Oh..." Ian nods, letting a long thoughtful pause linger through the air.  
"You think-?"  
"He _doesn't_ think you're a freak, Ian."  
Knowing he is being ridiculous by now, a spunky smile sprawls across Ian's face, and Lip scoffs while shaking his head.  
_He's actually crazy about you._

It's not until the end of the day when Ian musters up the right amount of courage to openly acknowledge Mickey in the hallways.  
"Hi Mickey..." He approaches shyly.  
He flinches while just so happening to curse under his breath.  
" _H-hey_ Ian..." he already wants to teleport somewhere else where he can _learn to properly talk to someone._ His heart is already up and running and he's pretty sure he's not supposed to feel his own pulse so intensely. _God fucking dammit._  
"Um-I-I'm _so_ sorry about the ROTC mishap." He feels the need to apologize.  
This throws off Ian.  
Did Lip tell Mickey he was upset? But that's not even _what_ Mickey's getting at. He still wants to apologize whether he was told about Ian's feelings or not.  
"Oh, uh, _don't_ worry about it. _Seriously."_ He flashes an instantly regretted thumbs up. Mickey tries his best not to smile to much at the action, and this turns Ian deep red.  
' _Holy shit,'_ Mickey thinks. ' _Is this good?'_ He's blinking so much his eyes just might be twitching.  
"And uh..." Not even noticing Mickey's mental freak out, Ian wants to address the abuse situation as discreetly as possible.  
"If you ever wanna come over sometime, you totally can."  
' _And away from your bat shit_ _parent.'_  
That sounds decent enough, right? Sounds like nothing but a friendly offer from friend to friend.  
"Okay..." Mickey's too nervous about drooling onto the floor for his paranoid and overthinking instincts to kick in right now.  
"Okay, um, _wellll,_ sounds _goood..."_ Ian thinks his voice sounds too croaky there for a sec, but it just sends Mickey further and further away into his little la la land.  
"Bye Mick," he smiles, not knowing whether the distracted look on Mickey's face is a good or bad thing.  
_Shit._  
"Mm uh-uh yeah," he has to clear his throat to regain any kind of speech.  
"Bye Gallagher."  
But apparently not to speak properly.  
While Mickey's entire world might have stopped, his big eyes and blushing cheeks are just more of a reason for Ian to smile.  
"Bye..." He walks away with his smile remaining.  
Gallagher.  
He could get used to that.  
A few seconds into his walk over to his belongings, is when he realizes that if Mickey will someday walk into where he lives, he'll be experiencing the madness that is his _living situation._  
" _Lip!"_ He jogs up to him at his locker.  
" _What, spaz_." He'd much rather put away his stuff than deal with _another_ one of his little brother love crises again.  
What _else_ would he be huffing and puffing about?  
"I told Mickey he could come over sometime."  
"I would _hope_ so, he's kinda my friend."  
"B-but what if Frank's there or something? It would be a _mess!"_  
"Do you not _remember_ the conversation we had in the bathroom, earlier? A parent like Frank is probably his wet dream."  
" _Whatever! God._ " Ian storms away to panic all on his own if no one will listen, not even noticing Karen and Mandy who are walking past him.  
"What's _his_ problem?" They approach Lip, needing something new to gossip about.  
Lip looks at the shorter girl.  
" _My_ brother is flipping out about _your_ brother again."  
"Figures."  
" _Lip!_ "  
"Oh _Jesus._ " He never thought he'd ever detest the sound of Mickey's voice.  
" _What,_ lover boy." He's now aware that only situations Mickey would come to him in full crises about are either Ian or a geometry problem.  
So help him _God_ if it's not a geometry problem.  
"Ian-"  
He wants both Mandy and Karen to tear each of his limbs off. It'd hurt less than this.  
"Told me that I could go over to your place-"  
"And _what_. You need to figure out what to wear? What to say? What to _do?_ How to _breathe?_ " The girls are giggling at his comments.  
"Did you _tell_ him to say that? When I told you to tell him that we don't have it all fine and dandy at home?" The possibility dawned over him shortly after Ian had _his_  own little episode.  
It never stops, with these two.  
" _What?_ " Mandy doesn't like the sound of that.  
"Oh _calm down princess_ I didn't go into the specifics."  
Witnessing her mouth fall open, Karen appropriately leads Mandy away from the situation.  
" _No_ , ever think he's just being _friendly? Asshat?"_  
"I will _not_ let you guys pity me. In fact, _no._ I'm _not_ going to your guys' place. _You're_ going to _my_ place. _Tomorrow."_  
" _Fine! My pleasure!"_  
"Just lemme make sure my Dad won't be there."  
"Jesus Mick."  
"Mr. Milkovich!" Mrs. Callaster greets him in a much different way and in a much happier tone.  
Both the boys look at her. "I'm happy to say that new sign up sheets that you were so highly demanding have been printed. Here you go." She hands him the one she brought down personally all the way for him.  
Grunting severely the entire time, receives multiple paper cuts while tearing it into pieces and tossing it all onto the floor.  
While Ms. Callaster gasps in shock, Lip does what he can not to laugh.  
" _Stupid fucking paper!"_ Mick yells on his way away from them, jumping at the licks he sends across his wounds.  
Right now he thinks it's safe to say that he hates _everyone,_ except for Ian who's ironically the one _giving_ him all these messed up and insane twisted feelings.  
"Ummm...He's having love issues," Lip decides to awkwardly reveal to the woman.  
"Just _help_ me clean this mess up."  
"Yes ma'am..."  
She already deals with enough stress from that poor kid enough, and she'll be _damned_ if the thing that's pushing him over the edge is a bunch of whacked up hormones.  
At least it's a real actual every day teen thing he can relate to, she figures. Go figure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave thoughts below; they motivate me <3


	13. Living Like Larry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terry declares his permanent exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes yes I'm here!! Ughhh I feel terrible for such long waits. Between writers block, school, and other shit, I've been struggling to fit in time :/  
> But I hope you enjoy!

"So, you _are_ going to their house?" Iggy asks Mickey, they and the rest of their siblings all walking on the right sided sidewalk on the way home.  
The topic of the Gallagher family is a quite good conversation stater.  
" _No._ I _said,_ they're coming to our place."  
" _What?!_ " The rest of the guys angrily perk up, comprehending what was just said.  
"Calm _down_. I'll make sure he's not there." All of them would rather not say his name.  
"Yeah, but, what about how whether he's there or not, our house still looks like total _shit."_ Joey snaps.  
"Lip told me that _their_ Dad's a drunk too."  
"Yeah well _our_ Dad is a bit more than a ' _drunk,'"_ a rolling eyed Jaime comments, face scowling.  
"Just--never _mind,_ okay? It's _settled_."  
"Mandy, you _gotta_ help us clean." Joey says.  
Mickey frowns, exasperated at the sight of her gazing down at the green contraction in her hand that has caused her to not sound one word the entire walk, holding it with one finger and spinning it with the other.  
" _Mandy!_ "  
"What? Sorry," she looks over, foot almost tripping the other and hand clutching onto the thing.  
Considering she stopped in her tracks a few times since they've left, it's no surprise she's losing her own balance.  
"What is that," Mickey swears it could be something he'd see a grade schooler playing with.  
"It's a fidget spinner. Trevor gave it to me."  
"Aw that is _so cute-gimme that."_ Joey snatches it while the other brothers grin evilly.  
"Don't _touch it it was his!_ " She yells, while her siblings cackle along with each other.  
"Seriously what the _fuck is this-"_ still holding it back, he gives it a quick spin and is automatically taken in by its movements.  
"Fuck..."  
" _Give it_ " she snatches it back. "I don't need your _germs_ all over it."  
"When the _fuck_ did you even see him?" Joey asks.  
"He goes to the high school."  
"He _what?!_ " Mickey's eardrums are almost blown out by the rest of the guys screaming.  
"Oh _fuck off._ He's a _freshman._ "  
" _So?!_ That's like--a _two_ year age difference!" Iggy currently can't do math because his mind is all over the place.  
"Oh, so _Mickey_ can like a guy a year younger but _I_ can't have a boyfriend that's two years ahead?!"  
" _Whoa whoa whoa,_ " three out of her four siblings are clamoring all at once again, while Mickey's blushing from the first part of Mandy's sentence.  
" _Boyfriend?_ Are you _fucking serious?"_ Joey asks.  
"So what? We made it official."  
"With what, your _toy?"_ Jaimie jokes, and Mickey joins along with their laughter.  
"It's supposed to help with anxiety."  
"Yeah well he's gonna be _real_ anxious when I see him around school and _kick his ass!"_ Joey declares.  
"You don't know what he _looks_ like, prick."  
" _Whatever._ Maybe if you were _listening_ earlier, you would've heard that Ian and Lip are stopping by tomorrow."  
" _What?_ "  
"It's okay. Their Dad's a drunk too." Mickey pipes in.  
"Stop _saying_ that!" Iggy demands.  
"No."

"Okay,"  
Whether company's gonna be joining them sometime soon or not, Mandy would still like to tidy up a bit around their home that could be mistaken for a Hoarders Buried Alive set.  
"So I figured that first we should dust around a bit."  
She's already scowling at her brothers looks of impatience and annoyance.  
"Oh, quit moping around like a bunch of lazy _fucks_. This is what _happens_ when society has women doing all the housework and leaves the _guys_ not knowing how to do it."  
She puts her hand on the hall closet's doorknob in determination.  
"It's not that we don't know _how to,_ lame-face. It's that we don't _want to._ " Declares Iggy.  
"Oh _shush._ Now I'm pretty sure something to help us has _gotta_ be in here," she opens up the closet door.  
Instead of finding a feather duster or vacuum separately, they find all the cleaning products available altogether, in the giant pile of crap that was staying smudged up between the four walls and one door.  
They all have to take various steps back, eyes ogling at the amounts of mostly useless things overall consisting of trash, weapons, guns, supplies ranging from all different areas of needs, empty prescription bottles, and everything else that's not under surface.  
" _Jesus!_ " Jaimie screams.  
After a few seconds that felt like forever-lasting, a scrunched up faced Mandy awkwardly reaches for, and grabs a broomstick that was sticking out from under the mass shit wave.  
"See?" She brings up, trying to point out that there's some needed and helpful things within there, smiling weakly.  
"I'm pretty sure that was apart of my Halloween costume," Joey says.  
" _Shut up Joey._ " She grunts, and Mickey closes his eyes due to the upcoming splitting headache making their way through.  
As if there weren't already enough things to fill up his head.  
"Heh. Looks like Mickey had to come out 'cause it was getting crowded in there," Jaimie grins.  
His fury filling eyes fly open. "I'm gonna _fucking-!_ "

Cleaning out the dresser and bedside drawers within the room shared by four teenage boys, Mickey's getting pretty tired of his brothers' bullshit after not even ten minutes.  
" _Seriously Iggy?!_ " He yells, having to toss another one of his handguns into their closet.  
"How many _fucking guns_ do you _have?!"_ He's never realized the amount of waste and weapons in their room until he's actually _cleaned out_ this place.  
The called out brother scoffs while approaching into the doorway.  
" _Seriously_ butt-for-brains? _You_ have guns too." He calls out the matter of hypocrisy.  
" _Yeah,_ a few in one locked up drawer. Not a _fuckin' double dozen,_ layin' around in every other drawer like _you do!"_ Mick yells. "Guys' are never gonna wanna come back here if they see 'em."  
"Will you _calm_ down?! I'm pretty sure their youngest brother is a delinquent."  
"What does it _fucking mat-"_ He has to stop himself from talking to recharge hisself, blinking hard and exhaling.  
"You know _what?!_ Just get out. _Get out."_  
"Why are you even so focused on the bedroom, huh? Wouldn't we be hanging out in, oh I don't know, the living room? Or studying in the kitchen? Unless..."  
Mickey's small headache turns into a migraine at the sound of Iggy's clicking tongue.  
" _Get OUT!_ " The demand is stretched on and emphasized for not so surprising reasons, Mickey shoving out the older brother on his own and hoping he slammed the door right in his face.  
Thank God one of the last few locks in the house that works is that one.  
"What's Mickey yelling to you about," Jaimie asks to Igs', when he approaches the rest of them in the kitchen at the sink storing away the dirty dishes.  
"Ian. What else."  
"True," Mandy figures, flatly observing Joey sloppily setting the dishes inside their washer.  
"Joey! Don't just _throw them_ in there! _Ugh,_ " she groans, and Jaimie shoves him out of the way to put away the last of the silverware.  
With no more space for the the few glass and plastic containers sitting in the sink, he slams it shut.  
"I still have to put the detergent in!" Mandy yells, jaw clenching at Joey who's frowning when he's pressing the 'start' button and nothing's happening.  
Resuming her groans, she angrily swipes up the half filled bottle that's rarely ever used from under the sink, opening it up and pouring a fair amount into the cap.  
The guys uncomfortably step back, letting her throw the machine back open and begin pouring in the liquid.  
"Shit," Iggy steps forward and stops the entire bottle from almost tipping off of the countertop, unintentionally having Mandy lose her balance in the process.  
" _Christ Iggy!"_ She yells, after he's bumped into her and the cap of detergent's been dropped to the floor.  
"Would you rather of had the whole container spill on your shoes?!" He protests.  
"You should've let it," Joey mutters.  
"Oh _fuck off._ This is why they had women do all the housework."  
"Need your precious fidget spinner?" Igs' teases, causing he and the two others to cackle.  
Mandy fumes, stomping through the small puddle of liquid chemicals on the floor in the process of leaving the room.  
"Mickey!" She yells, fist banging on his door that remains locked.  
"Are you done with your pity party yet?"  
"Look who's talking," Joey breathes, rolling his eyes as Jaimie refills the container cap and pours it into the washer correctly this time, slamming it shut and starting it up.  
"Use a _mop_ , asshole!" Mandy yells in a witness's response to Jaimie trying to clean up her detergent foot prints with the bottom of his own shoes.  
"We don't _have_ a mop!"  
"Then use the Halloween broomstick!"  
Right on time, Terry walks in with a puke stain on his white muscle tee, and an already lit cigarette in his mouth.  
The siblings grow stiff at just his presence, and even Mickey can tell something's not right behind the closed door.  
"What are _you_ shitheads doing," he observes the three older boys in the kitchen.  
"Uhhh...Just cleaning up..." Iggy has no idea how that could possibly sound like a bad thing.  
"Oh _shit_. Someone call child services again?"  
"No..." Joey says.  
But someone should. The one time when one of their neighbors called child services back in New Jersey, a suspicious Terry beat them so hard that they confessed, and even harder to get them to call back and claim they meant a different address.  
Rumor still has it that _that_ family's been separated, and _they_ were mostly normal.  
"Shouldn't _Mandy_ be doing all this shit? You boys need to learn real responsibility and get a job."  
Now in full earshot, Mickey gruffly walks out of the room and faces being stared down my Mandy, who he walks back into the kitchen with. He crosses his arms, witnessing Terry take out his cigarette and tossing it into the newly shiny and empty sink.  
Blood rushing, an eyebrow of his arches. "What are you _talking_ about Dad, you don't even _have_ a job." He doesn't care if one slip of the tongue will cost him bodily wreckage. It's not like he doesn't have to live with that half the time anyway.  
It's more like a Milkovich lifestyle, than anything else, at this point.  
"You _might_ wanna think about what I do for a living a bit more before you open your mouth." It's actually quite surprising he's starting out with retorted words instead of just instant violence.  
"Doing _what?_ Selling _Coke?_ Having a fucking _meth lab_ in the woods? That stack 'a cash in your closet didn't just fall out of your ass-"  
" _Jesus Mickey fucking Christ stop it!"_ Mandy's shrieking with fear at how insanely furious Terry is going to react.  
That's the thing with Terry. There's no time to run, no head start, barely any time to react.  
He already has you on lockdown with that bleak facial expression and deadly look in his eyes, aiming on his targets and only his targets.  
" _YOU GODDAMN FUCKING KIDS! I'M THE HEAD OF THIS HOUSE. I'M THE ONE BRINGING IN THE CASH, AND NONE OF YOU RETARDS ARE BRINGING IN A SINGLE FUCKING CENT!"_  
This is longest he's yelled at them without starting to threaten them with a physical object. The only things that are moving are his hands and mouth.  
The kids are more surprised about that than the volume of his voice. They're speechless, and even if they wanted to speak, well-  
" _ALL OF YOU ARE A BUNCH OF FUCKING WASTES. YOU'RE PRACTICALLY YOUNG ADULTS AND YOU HAVE NO FUCKING JOBS?! FUCKING GHETTO JUNKIES, I SWEAR TO GOD. THERE'S NOTHING WITH YOU KIDS. NO RESPECT, NO MORALS, NOTHING. JESUS CHRIST I SHOULD'VE ABANDONED YOU ALL A LONG TIME AGO."_  
"Sounds nice," Iggy mutters when there's finally a pause within the dialogue.  
Thinking that'll trigger his physical punishment, he's scowled at by his siblings.  
" _OH REALLY?! IS THAT FUCKING IT?! YOU WANT ME TO FUCKIN' LEAVE? MY PLEASURE YOU RETARDS. YOU WOULDN'T LAST A DAY! WITHOUT ME!"_  
It wouldn't be a Terry Milkovich entrance without a few hits and kicks to his kids.  
The only thing that gets them through it is knowing that it'll be the last beatings for what they hope is a long, long while.  
The door slam is music to the children's ears, who lay battered and bruised on the hard bloody stained kitchen floor, with blood running down their faces, and smiles growing across.  
After all the coughing, spitting, and bone cracking, they sit up one by one, focusing on the outlines of each other's injuries consisting of endless bleeding, throbbing bruises, and skin practically shedding off more and more by the second.  
"Holy _shit_ ," it hurts to talk for Iggy, in which he assumes it's the same way for everyone else. "He didn't break anything." He states.  
"Except our bones," Mandy comments.  
"Bastard didn't really bring anything with him?" Jaimie asks, already reaching up towards the nearest counter drawer for a pack of smokes.  
"Guess that means we can use his Coke money," says Joey.  
"What happens when we run _out_ of money."  
"Steal some," Iggy scoffs, lighting a cigarette for himself like Joey did.  
"But-"  
" _Mandy_. It's _fine_. We'll be _fine_." Joe's voice is stiff from the cigarette taking place inside his mouth.  
" _No!_ " She stomps upwards onto her own two feet.  
"We'd just be doing the _same shit_ we were doing when he _was_ here! I thought he was the _only_ reason why we're like this. When Mom was-"  
She stops then and there, body tightening and voice cracking.  
"Ah, _shit._ " Mickey mutters with a cigarette traveling to his lips.  
The guys watch her intensely as she sniffles and lets a few tears roll by, getting her act together best she can as fast as she can.  
"Things were never this extreme when...She was there. Yeah we were still poor, but...She had a real nine to five job, you know...?"  
"When it's just Dad it's a complete _nightmare_." Jaime states what she was trying to form together.  
"Yeah. And so now that he hopefully won't be here anymore, we can at least live in _peace._ Kind of. Sort of. You know, without having to come home to abuse every night." Joey hopes that's how it'll be.  
The Milkoviches are survivalists. Whether it's with one struggling mother with a father barely in the picture, an abusive father that's made his way into the picture too much, or _no parent at all._  
All they need are each other. They'll figure it out; keep the house running while achieving in school and working jobs. They're gonna have to put in blood sweat and tears, but no Terry to deal with at the end of the day is too worth it to reconsider.  
Except Mandy doesn't think so.  
" _Guys!_ He was right. We're _amateurs_."  
Jaimie practically guffaws up all his cigarette smoke. "The only thing Milkoviches are amateurs in are _school_ and emotional wellness. _Street smarts,_ are in the family. And if _Dad_ wants to waste it all on a cold park bench with a needle in his arm-"  
"He's _gonna_ come back." She doesn't want to have to say it.  
"Since _when_ has he ever done this?! _Never_." Joey stands right up, tensely stepping towards her.  
" _Yeah,_ Mandy. Hell let's go steal some champagne." Mick stands up with the rest of his brothers.  
" _No!_ That's what I'm _saying!_ If Dad's really not gonna be around here anymore, then we're _not_ gonna continue living the way he forced us to. That means-- _no_ stealing! A-and _no scamming!"_ She stammers.  
" _You know what Mandy just because Dad's gone doesn't mean we have to turn into the Brady Brunch."_ Iggy disagrees with her entirely.  
"I'm _not_ saying that! I just want us to be _normal!"_ She almost cries.  
"We _just_ lost our second and last parent for who knows how long, Mandy. _This_ isn't normal. We've _never_ been."  
"Well what makes you think we'll do fine by ourselves?! We can't just _scam_ and _steal_ forever! We _suck!"_  
"We're just gonna have to step up the game. You know, jobs and shit. Fiona does it," Iggy brings up.  
"Yeah, she can do _anything..."_ Joey sighs.  
The rest groan at him simultaneously.  
"Oh, _shit!_ " Mandy yells after it's been quiet for a few seconds.  
Seeing the dishwasher leaking nothing but soap and water onto the floor, she stomps over, looking around frantically for a coverup.  
"Is there a _fucking towel_ anywhere?!" Her voice turns high, leaning forward and hitting the cancel button more times than needed.  
Hearing the motions come to a full stop debunks the cringe inside her stomach  
" _Mandy. Chill out._ " Iggy tells the girl now stomping around opening and slamming various cabinet doors in a search for some sort of rag.  
" _No!"_ She stands ten feet away in front of right sided countertop. "God dammit _this_ is what I'm talking about! This is _shit!_ "  
With another quick slam, she storms her way out through the puddles of bubbled water that are now leaking further, smoke scented brothers watching uncomfortably.  
" _Ugh!_ " Her grunting and bedroom door slamming collide, a long drawn out silence then making its way throughout the entire house.  
It dawns over all of them harder than it should.  
"You really think so?" Jaimie asks all of them.  
"What..." Asks Mick.  
"That he's gone for good?"  
Iggy heaves out a long needed sigh. " _Hope_ so. It's not like we were any poorer when he was here."  
"Mm, not exactly true. Coke money remember?" Jaimie asks.  
"Then we _can't_ spend it all at once." Mickey estimates.  
" _Hm._ That's it." Iggy grabs his shoes while on his way out.  
"Where the fuck are _you_ going?!" Joey calls.  
"To _save this family!"_  
He's unknowingly cringed at. "Jesus _Christ._ " Jaimie tosses his cigarette into the water they've yet to clean up.  
And then there were three.  
"You think she'll get over it? Mandy?" Jaime wonders.  
"Eh, she's always been like this. She always panics and always eventually comes to her senses." Mickey surely knows her the best.  
"Think we need to shoplift female stuff?" Joe asks.  
"Mm, alright. But we can't tell her we stole it."  
Jaime and Joey both nod.  
"So I'm guessing this officially means Ian and Lip can come over tomorrow?" Jaimie's question triggers the redness on Mick's face.  
"I-I don't see why not..."

" _No."_ Fiona asserts her answer to the two oldest brothers' question in their kitchen.  
" _What? Why?"_ Lip cringes, sitting at the table with his offended open mouthed brother. Liam watches curiously from his high chair at the end of the table.  
"Because, guys, I-I have _no_ problem with you seeing em' at school, but..." She walks over and retrieves their tray of fish sticks from the oven.  
"Their _house?_ " She cringes nervously.  
"Home life sounds worse than _ours._ " She concludes.  
"Oh _come on!_ Their parents are _never there."_ Lip tries to persuade.  
"Then _how_ do they take care of themselves?"  
"Guess they just wing it. Like we do."  
" _No,_ _we_ do not just _wing it. We,_ have plans. Schedules. _Routines and processes_ that make sure we get by. _They,_ seem like none of em' don't what they're doin' at _all._ _I'm_ at least like a parental figure to you guys. They have _no_ parental figure, let alone a parent that _cares._ They're _kids._ "  
"So are _we,_ and _so are you!"_ Ian raises his voice.  
" _I_ was forced to grow up at fifteen. _I've_ gotten the hang at rounding up all you kids. You think _Joey_ knows what he's doing over there? He can't even _figure out chemistry class_ without a trip to the chemical shower."  
"I'll tell him you said that." Lip threatens.  
"Fine...! _Debbie! Carl! Dinner!"_ She yells up to the little ones.  
" _Seriously_ guys." She looks to her brothers. "I could _barely afford_ freakin' fish sticks from the market." Carl and Debbie are loudly making their way downstairs.  
"What do you think _they're_ doin' for dinner?"  
There's a knock at the front door, Fiona groaning when turning in the sound's direction.  
" _Who is that,"_ she speaks with her breath, walking away right before Carl tries picking up a fish stick with his bare fingers.  
" _Owe!"  
"Stupid!" _ An adjacent Debbie insults. Now sighing as well, Lip gets up to help him.  
"Iggy?" Fiona asks after swinging open the door.  
" _Fiona?_ "  
"What the hell are you doing here?" She then gasps after processing his severe injuries.  
Approaching the scene, Lip cringes at the sight of him.  
His heart leaps.  
"Jesus man, what the _hell_ happened to your face?" But he figures he already knows the answer.  
" _Owe!"_ Carl is heard burning himself again.  
"Oh my _God; use a napkin!_ " Debbie demands to the sound of Ian's laughter.  
"Uhhhh..." Is the last and only thing that falls out of his mouth before bolting off.  
" _Iggy! Dammit! What the-"_ Fiona yells to him when peeking her head out the door and seeing him run next door.  
"Oh, _god damn it._ " She closes the door shut.

Two doors down, a cross armed and squinted eyes Veronica isn't buying any of Iggy's bullshit.  
"Um, hello ma'am. You see, I was mugged and beaten, leaving me with no money to buy food for my siblings at home. Do you think, maybe you could spare some of yours?"  
"It's the _South Side,_ kid. None 'a us got food down here."  
" _IGGY!"_ Lip shouts over to him from the standpoint of his lawn.  
"Shit!" The Milkovich sprints off Vee's lawn and continues his way down the street, only to almost run into a car in the process.  
"Sorry!" He yells while being honked at, Lip shaking his head when the teen frantically disappears with his pants almost falling down.  
" _Jesus Christ."_  
"Who the fuck _was that?!_ " Veronica yells over to him.  
"A Milkovich..."  
Ian has the same question when his brother returns inside the kitchen, to Fiona cutting up the little one's fish sticks for them.  
"Just Iggy asking you out for Mick."  
" _What?"_  
"Just _joking man you wish."_ Lip has to deal with the fish sticks flying towards him when sat back down.  
"He really _was_ here though, beggin' on doorsteps," Fiona mutters.  
" _Christ..."_ Ian whispers.  
" _Now_ can we go to their house tomorrow?" Lip begs.  
The oldest exhales. " _Fine._ But bring a shiv and some baby wipes."  
"I have one," Debbie shares.  
"Where are they."  
"Not wipes. The shiv."  
Too deep in thought to catch that, unlike the rest of her siblings that are staring at her profoundly, Fiona huffs.  
" _Be right back,"_ she groans, walking over to and taking a twenty dollar bill out of the squirrel fund. Her next stop is outside.

  
At the end of the night, Iggy walks through the door with a bag of McDonald's.  
"Where the fuck'd you get that?" A starving Mickey demands, struggling with geometry homework which isn't unusual in the slightest. If just writing Ian's name over and over was the required assignments, he'd be a not-so-straight A student.  
"Just _shut up_ and _eat up._ _MANDAY!!!"_  
" _Jesus."_ Mick almost jumps from his seat.  
"I walked and talked with Fiona for a bit." He shares as a calmer but still pressed Mandy walks into the room.  
" _Ew, McDonald's? Seriously?"_ Her nose crinkles.  
"Oh, _come on._ You like their nuggets."  
"When I was _five."_  
"Fiona? When?" Mickey wonders after Iggy informs they had a 'walk and talk.'  
"Well you see, I resorted to stopping at people's houses and saying I've been mugged-"  
" _What?_ You were literally _begging on doorsteps?_ That counts as _scamming!"_ Mandy interrupts.  
Just hearing about what's going on, Jaimie walks into the room with a laugh.  
"You went to their _house?_ " Is all Mickey cares about.  
" _Yes_ and I smelt fish sticks. They're half passed food stamps."  
"Yeah well at least she bought their food with her _own_ money." Mandy grills, Mickey sighing as he gets up and walks over to the food.  
"Where the hell is Joey," Igs' asks them.  
"Oh the _fries are cold!_ " Mickey complains loudly.  
"Looking for a job so we won't have to get money from people that have more money then _us_." Mandy retorts.  
"Mandy, the day you have to start fitting two inches in your mouth, is the day you're allowed to complain." Jaime says.  
She flips him off as he makes his way over to Mickey's textbook.  
"Mick what are you working on-"  
"Don't _touch it!"_ He yells with a red faced mouth full of nuggets.  
"What's Gallagher." He asks.  
Calling Ian by his last name instead of his first is kind of Mickey's new favorite thing to do.  
" _Nothing! Jesus Christ don't look through my shit!"_ He yells the food out of his mouth and slams Jaime's finger into the book after shortly sprinting over.  
" _Owe, fuck!"_  
" _Ughh Mickey_ you got food on the floor!" Mandy screams, just before the wall phone rings up a storm.  
"Karen said she'd call me." She announces, trotting over she answering it.  
"Hello?"  
"Oh hey Ian."  
Mick's entire body goes on lockdown. " _What?_ " He whispers, while Jaimie and Iggy start laughing together.  
"No Mickey's not here right now."  
" _Yes! I am!_ " He's never been more offended in his life, stomping over and snatching away the phone.  
"Hey Gallagher." He shoos off Mandy, who only laughs along with her brothers.  
Sitting upstairs on his bed, Ian swears he's gonna be blushing every time if Mickey continues to call him that.  
' _What if he forgot my first name?'_ He then worriedly thinks.  
' _Then again, if he bothers to knows my last name I don't see why he wouldn't know my first. Should I tell him my middle name? No. That's weird.'_  
"Uh-uh hey--"  
' _Should I call him by his last name now? Is this a thing we're supposed to have now? Jesus Ian quit overthinking things.'_  
"Mick," he finally concludes his greeting.  
Mickey's not the only one who turns deep red by sound of their nickname coming out of a certain person's mouth.  
"Uh-uh, I just came to say, erm- _called_ to say-"  
Mickey smiles at his mistake.  
"That Fiona says Lip and I can come over tomorrow. Ya know, if you still want us to."  
"Yeah! Yeah. That's cool. Uh, you can just walk there with us after school. If you want." He figures that'll be best.  
"Yeah, that works." Ian's all smiles.  
"Okay, um...um, is it true that Iggy stopped by?" He glares over at him.  
"Yeah," Ian thinks is funny, sounding a lighthearted chuckle which has Mickey's stomach drop.  
"He bailed and Fiona had to catch up with him. She gave him a twenty for-"  
"I'll pay her back."  
"What? No. It was only-"  
"No seriously. Besides, he wasted it on fucking _McDonald's."_  
" _Hey!"_ He yells to him, and Ian smiles at what he hears.  
"Uh, and what happened to him? Lip said he looked beat up." He knows he probably shouldn't be approaching the subject, but wants to see what Mickey will come up with.  
"Oh. Uh..." He anxiously looks back at his siblings for a few moments.  
"He's in a fight club. For money. Money that...I will pay you back with."  
"Mickey. It's _fine._ " Ian crosses his legs and gazes up at the ceiling.  
He swears the phone will slip out of his hand if he doesn't stop sweating.  
"No no it's fine I'll just-" The low repeated beeping coming in on the line indicates another call coming in, which both the boys can hear.  
"What's that?" Ian wonders.  
' _God dammit our phone is so fucking old it sounds different from everything modern._ ' Mickey thinks angrily.  
"Uh...I don't hear anything."  
He doesn't even know how to transfer a call on this thing anything.  
Mandy takes notice and frowns. "Mickey _give me the phone."_  
"I think you have another call coming in," Ian informs.  
"Oh, no no nah, our phone is _really_ old, it's always doing shit like this..." There's one last beep after he finishes his sentence.  
"Oh okay."  
"Yeah yeah. Can you hold on just a second thanks." He takes away the phone and presses the earpiece against his side.  
"Get the _fuck out I'm talking!"_ He grunts to them. "And quit eating my nuggets."  
"We're _barely_ even here, asshole." Iggy snaps.  
"Oh my God just _get out!"_  
So they rightfully leave with their McDonald's in tow.  
Mickey irritably holds the phone back up to his ear, looking forward to one sound and only one sound.  
"Hey sorry."  
"Hey. You there?"  
Sometimes times Ian doesn't understand why he asks these things.  
"Yeah. You there too?" He messes.  
"Does it sound like it?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay good."  
Both laughing, Ian comfortably turns over on his bed, while Mickey happily leans against the wall.  
Regardless of the distance between them, they can both seem to that they are in fact smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment your thoughts. Comments are my favorite :)


	14. Break Me Down:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey and Ian are spazzes again but what else is knew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that still actually give a crap, thank Mary Ellen for my sudden return ;)

For the first time in a long, long long time, Mickey Milkovich wakes up in a good mood. Instead of heavily focusing on that his Dad is gone and hopefully away for good, like the rest of his family are doing, he's still repeating every word of every piece of dialogue exchanged between him and Ian Gallagher over their twenty to thirty minute timed phone conversation last night.  
If he had a smartphone he would have been able to see how long the conversation actually lasted, but looks like he'll never know with that damn old wall phone of theirs.  
Either way, he lost track of time. He sat on the floor with the phone held up against his ear with a helping shoulder, smiling at every one Ian's words.  
Nothing grew awkward. His worst nightmare where neither of them knows what to say and instead lets draining silence overtake the line _didn't_ happen. There's only so much two can talk about over a span of about twenty six minutes, but the dialogue still never died down.  
He didn't mention anything about Terry leaving. He figured he'd save that for school hours. Ian did most of the talking, which he later beat himself up for.  
But Mickey loved every word that came out of his mouth.  
He could learn about Ian all night. Everything about him; his large family, his interest in ROTC, his impressive knowledge about English, _all_ of it, fascinates him.  
He doesn't get like this with just anyone. Hell, he's _never_ gotten like this with anyone before. He's never cared about someone outside of his family like this like he cares for the two oldest Gallagher brothers.  
The two oldest Gallagher brothers that are coming over today.  
So because of that, a fairly well dressed and combed hair Mickey is hastily completing the kitchen cleanup where everyone else sits around at the table, before they're late for school.  
" _Mickey._ Sit down and eat you're _supposed_ to clean up afterwards" Iggy says, pouring more syrup on his toaster made mini hot cakes.  
Joey playfully pokes at Mandy's adjacent seated shoulder with his white plastic fork.  
" _Quit it,_ asshole, I'm not _talking_ to you." She continues her lack of eye contact with a scowl into space and crossed arms against her chest.  
"Oh, just quit whining and eat the pancakes I stole for you."  
"That's _why_ I'm not talking to you!" Mandy didn't expect Joey to shoplift again so quickly. Then again, she shouldn't really be surprised.  
"You too Mick! Quit being such a _spaz_ and sit down." He watches him wipe down the counters with Clorox wipes like his life depends on it.  
"What _are_ you, a germ-a-phobe, now?" Jaimie asks in response.  
" _No_ , I just don't want Ian and Lip calling sanitation on us when they _see_ this place." He tosses the dirty rusted stained wipes into the trash under the sink, before grabbing a pair of clean glass silverware and seating himself down.  
"Since when do you say words like ' _sanitation'?_ " Iggy cringes, watching the boy now sitting down next to him dig in.  
" _Since_ he's trying to win over Ian Gallagher." Mandy butts in unnecessarily.  
This has Jaime spit up his food everywhere, and his siblings complain and yell as he guffaws with food still stuck in his teeth.  
"Jaime _what the fuck-"_  
"Wait wait wait so _that's_ whose name you were writing down on your homework?" He grins over at Mick.  
Mandy, Joey and Igs' then chime in with laughter.  
"Oh, _fuck off."_ Mickey takes his big third and last bite of food, before stomping out of his chair and slamming his plate of pancakes onto the counter, where he retrieves a large ziplock bag.  
"You know, ever since Dad left you guys have gotten _really_ annoying."  
Their laughter continues.  
He pours the unfinished food into the bag along with his silverware, zipping it up and carrying it with him on his way to the sink where he washes and sets inside his plate.  
"Now if you _excuse me,_ I'll be taking _this_ to school with me." He holds up the see through bag for them all to see, before entering his room and throwing the sticky food filled bag into the front of his backpack.  
"And I _have a butter knife!"_ He reminds them.  
Back in the kitchen, the rest are now just snickering.  
"Isn't that funny, Mands'?" Joey's hand is instantly pushed away after being comfortingly placed on her shoulder.  
"I'm _still_ mad at you."  
" _Fine! Mickey_ can just take your pancakes to school too and you can starve." He threatens.  
" _Fine!"  
"Fine."_  
"I'm _gonna_ get a job, Mandy."  
" _Sureeeee_ ," she stands up from the tables and walks towards the phone to call Karen.  
"Fiona said she could help us out with that." Iggy brings up.  
"You talked to her?" That's not Joey's most favorite thing to hear.  
"Yeah when she gave me the twenty dollars. We walked for a bit."  
"But I thought she just-!"  
"No! Okay? _No_ help from the Gallagher's." Mandy declares, already dialing Karen's memorized number who happens to call just before she can finish.  
This has Mickey coming and scattering out of his room in alert, which just makes his siblings laugh more and Mandy flash a cocky smirk on her face, before picking up the phone and greeting the person who isn't Ian but is most certainly Karen.  
"Hey girl hey."  
Mickey a groan, stomping down his worn out sneaker worn foot, and hasting back to his room.  
His brothers laugh at loud.  
" _Awww_ , come on Mick, don't get so salty," Joey smiles, causing a surely salty Mick to slam his door.  
Jaimie chortles. " _Bitch ass."_  
"What was that?" Karen asks Mandy over the phone. She walks down from her room to the living room where Sheila is happily being given Liam by Fiona.  
"Mickey's throwing his temper tantrum again."  
"Thanks again." The teenager whispers to the baby holding beaming woman.  
"About Ian?" Karen asks Mandy standing across the room from the two, too focused to even consider that Fiona would put the pieces together.  
She perks up, paying close attention to the girl who no longer looks like a pirate, but now a normal teenage girl distracted by the gossip included phone call she's partaking in.  
"What else?" Mandy smiles.  
" _Fuck off!"_ Mick screams from the other room.  
Karen laughs. "That _is_ true. How are they doing?" She needs the details.  
"She get her eyepatch off?" Fi' notices, whispering to Sheila in secret. Instead of looking like a pirate, Karen now looks like she has both pink eye, and a black eye within the same exact one.  
"Oh, yes." Sheila chimes while bouncing Liam up and down.  
"And it's not...Infected...?"  
"You think Ian likes him?"  
Karen's question has Fiona's head whip over faster than it ever has before.  
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised." She’s still walking around back and forth in the same area.  
"What is she talking about..." Fiona hopes to get an answer of Sheila. Maybe Karen tells her _all_ about her social life. Maybe Sheila knows _something_ about this whole Ian-Lip-and Mickey crap.  
"Oh, you know her. Gossip gossip gossip," Sheila chuckles, and Fiona forces one back.  
"Yeah they are _totally_ crazy about each other..." Karen just has to walk into the kitchen while saying this, causing Fiona's pupils to entirely shrink.  
She raises her posture and tries to look past the kitchen's entrance, making Sheila furrow her brow.  
"Everything alright sweetie...?"  
"Um...Yup!" Fiona looks back at the woman with a phony shiny smile and nervous bright eyes.  
"I should get going. Have fun Liam!" She quickly taps his head before speedily getting the hell out of there.  
She renters her own home in heaved breaths, her weak legs almost dropping her to the floor, in which she has to hang onto the doorknob in a panic.  
The door finishes closing with the help of her back shoving up against it.  
" _What,_ Iggy stalking you too now?" Lip humors when taking notice.  
" _No._ " She finds the physical courage to stand up right.  
"Ummm..." She anxiously makes sure that it's just Carl and Debbie in the kitchen.  
"What do you know about...Ian and Mickey?" There's a display of worry on her face.  
"Why?"  
"'Cause I heard Karen talking on the phone-"  
"Probably to Mandy."  
"I-I think the girls were talking about them."  
"They talk about them all the time, Fi'. It's nothing new."  
"Probably, yeah. So..."  
" _So..."_  
"They seeing each other?"  
"Mandy and Karen? I'll have to ask."  
"Very _funny,_ dipstick."  
"Right now Ian and Mickey are too _pussy_ to admit their feelings to each other."  
"But everyone else knows? _You? Me?_ Karen? Mandy and the other brothers?"  
"Basically."  
"Then _how_ come no one-?"  
"Patience, Fiona. What's your deal anyway?"  
She exhales. "I guess I just—I don't care that it's Mickey. And I don't care that it's _Ian._ It's just—both their home lives are _terrible_ , y'know? Ours isn't as bad as theirs but...For Ian to get involved with someone who goes through that...It worries me for the _both_ of them." She tries her best to explain.  
"We're all already 'involved' with the Milkoviches." Lip states.  
" _Yes_ , but Ian and Mickey are experiencing deeper _feelings."_ Fiona clarifies.  
"What?" Ian just stepped onto the top staircase step a few moments ago.  
"Nothing!" She blurts to him in a panic.  
"You _told her?!"_ Ian demands to Lip.  
"The entire _world_ knows, Ian." He snaps. He doesn't see what's wrong with their older sister knowing if the freakin' school secretary already picked up on that shit.  
" _DON'T TELL JOEY OR IGGY OR ANY OF THE EFFING BROTHERS!"_ Ian's over-dramatically demands to Fi'.  
She cringes. "I'm your _guest..."_ Ian's acting like she wants to talk to any of them.  
Well, with Iggy there's an exception. The conversation they had last night went fairly well. Like _hell_ she's gonna reveal that to her brothers, though.  
Ian groans. "Quit trying to medal in my love life!"  
Lip practically snorts. "' _Love life'?_ Bitch you _wish."_  
" _Screw off,_ Lip!"  
"What are you guys yapping your traps about." Carl enters their space.  
"Nothing that concerns you, Carl. Get Debbie and we'll walk you guys to school."  
"I'm heading over early." Ian quickly snatches the needed backpack from his room, and loudly heads down the stairs only to leave the house without another word.  
" _Jesus Christ_ I can't keep up with this kid," Lip whispers under his breath, with a well needed eye roll.  
"What's wrong with Ian?" Debbie asks from kitchen.  
"Nothing he's just being _REALLY_ annoying," Lip informs.  
Annoying, love stricken, or both?

"Really? Ugh I _know_ he sounds so weird!" Mandy exclaims, still on the phone back at the Milkovich house.  
" _STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!!_ " Mickey screams from his room, had been trying to pick up what Mandy has been talking about to Karen for the last five minutes.  
" _I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU ASSHOLE! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT KAREN'S DAD AND HIS CLOWN FETISH!"_ Mandy has to hold the phone against her forearm for a sec. Iggy almost chokes up His food.  
"You deserve that..." Joey darkly whispers.  
"What?" Iggy frowns.  
"You heard nothing..."  
As a witness to the dialogue, Jaimie cringes.  
"Well you _WERE TALKING ABOUT ME STOP IT!"  
"GET OVER IT! _ Hey sorry I'm back." The phone is now back up to her ear.  
"Can you hurry up? We get charged by minute, you know." Jaimie brings up.  
The girl harshly shushes him.  
"So, um, how are you...?" Karen's question comes out a bit distracted, too busy staring at a creepy smiling Sheila who's standing across the room and waving.  
'Mom...?' She mouths, pointing to the device and indicating that she's busy.  
"Ummm...Alright. I-I should really tell you more in person. My brothers are bitching about the phone bill."  
"Okay, I'll see you in a bit."  
"Bye."  
The moment the phone is placed back against the receiver, Mickey comes storming into the room with a ziplock bag of leftover pancakes placed within the backpack around his back.  
" _QUIT TALKING ABOUT ME TO YOUR SLUTTY FRIEND."_  
"She's _seeing_ someone dumbass and she's _trustworthy_ therefore I can tell her whatever I please!" Mandy fires back.  
"She's Karen _Jackson!_ She tried to _murder_ Lip for just _lookin'_ at ya."  
"She's _better_ now. And she got her eyepatch off!"  
"Tell it to someone who _cares._ Let's _go."_  
"Don't forget your fidget spinner," Joey teases, standing up from the table with the other two and laughing along with them.  
Mandy stomps all the way back to her room with a middle finger struck right up in the air, boot heels clacking against the floor boards and hoop earrings swinging along the entire way.  
Iggy's careless scoff is interrupted by the mean spirited shove Joey gives, grabbing his coat off the rack and putting it on while stepping into his shoes, before making his way out the door.  
"What's _his_ deal?" Iggy asks.  
"Isn't it obvious? He's pissed about how you and Fiona 'chatted.'" Jaimie answers.  
"All we _did_ was chat! Besides, I'm a _tenth grader._ Why would she, a _senior,_ be interested in _me?"_  
"So you're saying you _aren't_ interested in her?! _Dude_ -the _only_ reason I'm not saying I'd smash her in front of Joey is 'cause I don't wanna get my _ass_ beat." Jaime expresses.  
An uninterested Mickey rolls his eyes. "I literally could care less."  
" _Couldn't care less!"_ Mandy corrects him on her way back into the room, her earrings continuously swinging and newly held fidget spinner now spinning.  
"Sorry. I _couldn't care less."_  
"That's how _we_ feel when you're blabbing on about Ian," she teases.  
"Shut up, you _spinner slut!"_  
With another coat off the rack and more shoes being stepped into, Mickey is the second one this morning to storm out of the house.  
Mandy, Iggy, and Jaimie all find amusement in their unnecessary anger.

For Ian and Mickey, encountering each other is the thing that they both dread the most, but at the same time the thing that they both anticipate the most.  
"Hey Ian..."  
"Hey Mick."  
They stand on the right side of the hall before first petiod, blocking the doors of two random kids lockers.  
"Um..." Ian studies his picture day necessary outfit, desperately thinking of a compliment that won't sound too homo.  
"New clothes?" He observes, and Mickey's eyes light the fuck up.  
"Um, m-more like found. I—I found them. In the back of my closet?"  
' _Where I won't be for long if I keep fucking acting like this in front of you.'_  
"And I uh washed them last night." He finishes, unaware of why he added that last part. He wasn't aware that his new motto was suddenly 'I may come from a broken household where I smoke drink and participate in crude violence but I can still do laundry. And get this- _correctly.'_  
"Well it looks nice." Ian has to force his eyes away from his body and back directly into Mickey's own eyes. The same eyes that make him feel like he's gonna melt into a freaking puddle.  
"So, um-um you and Lip still gonna come over? If you want?" Mickey won't dare sound pushy. He _hates_ this. He _hates_ how Ian turns him into an entirely different socializer; a different _person,_ even. His hands grow sweaty; his skin moist and his tongue numb. The voice that's usually thick and brittle turns gentle and soft spoken.  
He can't _stand it._ They're _friends,_ right? Shouldn't he be _over_ this? A person can have a _crush_ on someone and still _act_ like a _normal human being._  
"Yeah! Yeah." Ian wouldn't want him thinking differently for a split second. "So, um, walk back altogether after school? Like I suggested?" He swears to God he was supposed to speak an extra word for that sentence to make sense, but right now he's so lightheaded that he can't remember.  
_Man_ talking on the phone was so much easier.  
Speaking of that, "Yeah. Sounds great. Um s-sounds—good. Th-thanks for talking to me last night...You know, on the phone."  
Ian grins. "Anytime."  
Mickey practically fucking glitches. Did Ian _really_ mean that, or is that just Mickey's hopeless imagination.  
"Y-yup," he chuckles.  
"Do you want my number?"  
"Huh?" Mickey's head is spinning.  
"Like," Ian has to clarify himself fast so Mickey doesn't think of him as some sorta creep.  
"Since you have a wall phone, and you can't put numbers in it like you would on a smartphone, do you want my number? So, maybe you could call me first sometime? If that's alright with you?"  
Warm all over, Mickey has to make sure his eyes don't twitch shut. Ian _Gallagher_ wants to call _him_ first! And he _wants_ for him to have his goddamn number! Jesus _Christ!_  
"Um..."  
Ian's expression of hope suddenly lessens. Oh God. That was a mistake and he should've known Mickey doesn't want to waste his time with some _stupid_ phone number.  
But not just _any_ phone number.  
Ian _Gallagher's_ phone number.  
"I..." Mickey tries to continue.  
Speak. Breathe. _Speak breathe for God's sake._  
"I could use that, yeah. Thank you...!"  
The amount of time it takes for Ian to take out pen and paper from his bag and shakily write down his info, to finally hand Mickey that said piece of paper, is infinite lasting.  
A lasting infinite that couldn't more torturous yet perfect.  
To add over the both awkward and comfy silence that's exchanged between them through the air with amused chuckles and satisfied smiles, the first bell rings reminding them for class.  
"Um I-I should go..." the sound of his own voice has Ian sweat tremendously, Mickey's presence being both the worst and best thing he's ever experienced.  
As much as he feels that he makes a fool of himself and how insanely anxious he gets, the fact that Mickey is right there with him is enough to make the whole thing worth it.  
Mickey, who feels the exact same way.  
"Okay. Bye..."  
The smiles they bring out in each other are just precious.  
Going their separate ways lifts away certain weights, but doesn't stop new ones from being brought down.  
"How was that??" Ian desperately and frantically asks Lip, who was discreetly eavesdropping everything from nearby.  
"It was the most awkward and anxiety inducing thing I've ever seen."  
"And _that_ means..?" Ian just wants to hear something good.  
"From both of you. It was awkward from the both of you. But in a good way."  
Ian grins. "S-so how do I get him to like me?"  
Lip scowls right through him.

Since Mick can't seem to find Lip anywhere since he's sped away from Ian with the goddess piece of paper clutched in his fist, his only hope is Mandy.  
Mandy, who's too busy interacting with Karen.  
" _Whoa,_ I want one!" Karen's smiling in response to the spinning fidget spinner that Mandy's displaying in her hand.  
Just standing nearby a few feet, Mickey's eyes roll harder than they ever have before.  
"I know!" Mandy stops it with her finger. "Maybe it can help your Mom!"  
"Oh yeah! She could use one. She was acting weirder than usual this morning."  
"How?"  
"She kept trying to know about ' _my social life'_ and _'my grades'."_ Karen scoffs. " _Weird_."  
Mickey cringes. Is she for fucking _real?_  
"It might be because my Dad left us yesterday." The blonde casually adds.  
" _Really?_ My Dad left us yesterday too!" Mandy smiles.  
"No _way!_ "  
The girls hold each other and jump up and down while happily shrieking for a good five seconds.  
"Yo _airheads!_ " Mickey's had enough.  
The airheads separate, looking over at him with fresh glares.  
"Can I borrow you for a second?" Mick asks his sister.  
"What."  
"Ian gave me his phone number."  
The girls resume shrieking louder than before, walking over to the older boy and trying to grab onto him.  
"Don't _touch me!"_ He demands, swiping away their physical contact.  
"Mickhalio Milkovich, report to the principal's office."  
The fact that his full name was of course used in the announcement, makes him squirm.  
"Oh _God,_ now people know my _full first_ name! Jesus!” He's already taking off.  
"What'd you _do?!_ " Mandy yells out.  
"I don't _know!_ "

" _Why_ am I here, sugar. Just break the ice. By the way are you aware that that saying was created by Shakespeare?" Is how he confronts Mrs. Callaster at the front desk.  
"You did nothing, Mickhalio."  
"A _bout_ that, can you _please_ not use my full name next time? It's usually something I like to block out from my memory."  
Mostly because that was the name his mother would use on his during scoldings. _Non_ -abusive scoldings.  
One a normal mother would give to a horsing around child.  
He's pretty sure Terry doesn't even know he _has_ a full name. _Or_ a middle name. But he'd rather not get into that, either.  
"We'll see."  
"So what'd I do?"  
"Nothing. I just needed an excuse to get you down here so I can see how you are."  
He cringes. " _What? Stalkerish,_ much? First you stalk me at the library and now _this?_ "  
"We ran _into_ each other at the library, Mr. Milkovich."  
"Doesn't mean you had to _talk_ to me."  
"What's that you're holding in your hand?" She points to the scrunched up piece of paper that has a ticket to the promised land, aka Ian's phone number.  
He's technically already talked to him on the phone, hell he talked to him for a good _twenty minutes_ last night, but it'll still be good to actually have.  
" _Nothing._ It's nothing. Notes. For class."  
"You really think _I'm_ gonna believe _that?_ "  
" _Jesus,_ what are you, my _mother?_ You're interrupting my class time. You know, where I can _learn?_ "  
"How's life at home."  
" _Fine."_ He grits his teeth.  
"Alright. All I needed to hear. You can leave now." She's turned surprisingly mellow, but he's not gonna waste time questioning it.  
" _Jesus. Finally."_  
He stomps his way out like usual, but just a _little_ too focused on actually getting the hell out of there.

"So I hear my _spaz-tron_ of a brother actually gave you his phone number?"  
Lip, standing in the middle of the cafeteria with Mick during lunchtime, more like saw Ian so terribly awkwardly give Mickey his phone number, but he'd only admit that to Mickey unless he wanted to be _choked_ to death. And today is not the day for that.  
Mickey's deep blushing and sudden dry throat is interrupted by his snapshot of realization.  
"Oh _shit!"_ He frantically shoves his pudding cup in Lip's hands.  
It's the fastest Lip's seen anyone run in his fourteen years of living.  
Who knew Ian Gallagher would make great bait for running motivation.  
Oh wait. _Mickey_ did. It's being proved to him right now.  
"So can I have your pudding cup...?!"  
Lip eats it anyway.

Callaster's paper work is interrupted by the loud office door barging open, and Mickey's endless seeming panting mixed in with his failed attempts to speak.  
It only took him four minutes to sprint all the way down here from the lunchroom, now suffering from a clogged throat and more sweat than any gym class has any ever given him.  
"Mrs. Callaster." The whisper is barely audible.  
"Yes, Mr. Milkovich?" She firmly crosses her arms.  
"I...I...I..."  
Three intense coughs and one loud throat clearing is what it takes for him to fully regain his speaking voice.  
"That piece of paper I had when I was in here,"  
He's still slightly catching his breath.  
"I-I think I dropped it on my way out. I don't remember having it in the hallway _or_ in any of my classes."  
"What was it, Mr. Milkovich?"  
He can sense that her tone is more mocking than sincere.  
"Y-you should  _know_  already if you _have_ it!" He frowns.  
"Now just _give_ it to me! A _phone number!_ A _phone_ number! It was a _really_ important cellphone number; _why_ do you like torturing me?!" He'll jump over that desk and get the damn thing himself if he has to.  
"What _kind_ of phone number?"  
"An _important_ one! _Jesus_ lady; you're just like a _Mom!_ Don't you have any children of your _own_ to obsess over?! Or did your ex husband take them all with him in the divorce?!"  
She knew that sometimes Mickey tends to speak out of his ass, and she knew that he was most certainly capable of saying something like this.  
She just didn't think he'd ever say something as cruel as this to _her._  
"Oh shit. Um..." He's never seen her look this mad before. He can't believe he's saying this, but right now, her forgiveness is way more important than getting back that piece of paper.  
"Uh I-I didn't mean that you _know_ I didn't mean that. I don't even know anything _about_ you! How would _I_ know if you're married or not or if you're divorced or have kids. If you _are_ divorced and the guy got custody of your kids, then he can go fuck himself."  
Mickey's talking without thinking again like usual.  
"I'm not divorced, Mr. Milkovich."  
"So you were never married? I-I mean you _are_ married?"  
"I would appreciate it if you _didn't_ make assumptions about my personal life."  
"W-well _you_ do the _exact same thing_ to _me!_ " He's back to bickering.  
"That's because _I_ prefer to _look out for you."_  
He practically snorts. " _Sure. Fine._ Do _whatever_ you please, woman, just _don't_ involve me. Now I _know_ you took my phone number so just _please_ give me it so I can _leave you alone!"_  
" _May_ I know _whose_ phone number it is?" She wants to make sure he's not getting into any real dangerous trouble.  
"A _friend's,_ okay?! A friend who I _can't_ get out of my _fucking head_ because I like him _so. Fucking. Much._  
And I _hate it!_ I fucking _hate it_ and _you're_ making me hate it even _more!_  
He doesn't even _deserve_ to deal with someone dysfunctional like me _or_ my _broken ass_ shit fucked family.  
This _never_ happens and of course when it just _has to happen_ it's with a person, a _boy, a fucking boy,_ who's _fucked up_ my life _for good!_ I hate him, I hate _you,_ and I hate _myself!_  
Is _that_ what you fucking wanted? To _know_ about me?! Well _there_ now you know that I'm _a fucking gay waste_ with a crush on a guy who will _never like me back!"_  
Done screaming out his tired lungs and scratchy throat, tears have joined the extra sweat that's glided down his face.  
Unable to look at the torn expression Callaster is giving him any longer, he runs out with no time to waste.  
While jogging down the hall now a total emotional mental and physical mess, he knocks down each trash can in his way, bangs on every locker door his aching fists will let him, and finally fully breaks down once inside his empty, quiet, echoing safe space.  
Back to the auditorium it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment if you want more because comments MOTIVATE ME THE MOST AND KEEP ME GOING! <3


	15. Any Day Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lip’s really getting tired of Ian and Mickey’s shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m baaaack!! I’ve been focusing on another fic (that involves gallavich) but I’ve managed to update my boys!!

Bursting open the doors of the empty auditorium, are Mickey's more than enraged fists, his practically boiling body entering within, with stomping feet and a beat red face.    
Not the mention the teary eyes.  
He doesn't wait until the doors swing fully closed, already groaning and screaming to himself while marching up in front of the nearest wall.  
"Come on; _stupid, stupid, stupid!"_ He can't kick the wall too hard, not exactly wanting to get sued and surely unable to afford such a thing.  
"Fucking _stupid..."_ Steadily wiping away the hanging tears from his cheeks, he sniffles loudly and quickly wipes his nose.  
He cannot believe he just admitted that shit to the _secretary._  
His sex _uality_?! _Really?!_ Now that she knows that, _and_ his full name, she can go around town telling whoever she pleases, the word possibly getting around to Terry for him to not take with a grain of salt, but instead a fucking gun that he'll be planning to _kill_ his own kid with.  
Mickey's gone from groaning to growling.  
"You fucking idiot you fucking idiot you fucking idiot-" while repeating those three sets of words, Mickey punches the right side of his same sided thigh until the pain becomes unrecognizable.  
 _Great._ This is just _great!_ Mickey just _had_ to open his big fat mouth.  
He's not to type of person to just spew out everything all at once, let alone to a _stranger._ He had kept almost everything from his siblings for _years,_ and now some secretary he's known for a few _days_ gets the full story? What is wrong with him?  
That secretary comes walking in, eyes dark and alert at both the sight of Mickey's condition; how he’s hurting himself.  
"Mickhalio, stop that. Don't do that to yourself."  
Despite despising her orders, Mickey knows he needs to stop.  
"Listen..." He starts, thigh burning with pain and the fist used against that thigh now almost throbbing.   
"What I said back there—" he tries his best to resume speaking normally and not sound like he was just crying and screaming.  
"It-it was all lies."  
"And you're crying because you lied?" She tests.  
"Uh-huh. You can leave now-"  
"Mr. Milkovich you needed to vent to someone and you did-"  
"I don't know what that means..."  
"You were _expressing_ your _issues."_  
Mickey scowls at the statement, but decides to let her continue.  
"And I can be the person you express them to-"  
"Whoa whoa _whoa,_ Callister. Last time I checked, you're a _secretary_ and not a counselor."  
"Would you _like_ to see the counselor?"  
"No _way,_ " He cringes. "That stuff's _lame."_  
She sighs, knowing it's gonna take her a damn long time to get through to him.  
"Well would you like to tell me about what you had said said to me?"  
"Don't you have a _job_ to do?" He's not loosening up so easily.  
"Somebody else is filling in. I'd _just_ like to start out by saying that I would _never_ tell anyone else something as personal as what you told me."  
"Who said it's _true?"_ Mickey fires.  
"True or not true, it's not my right to pass on what you said. I know that's what you want me to tell you so it'll clear the air."  
"Yes! E- _exactly!_ " He exclaims in amazement. Damn she’s good.  
"So what if you're just _lyin'_ when you say that?" He accuses.  
"I'm _not_ lying. To me a person's sexuality doesn't matter and I'm sure plenty more kids here-"  
" _I don't trust you!"_ He points at her sternly, voice anxious and high strung before he sprints past her and back out those doors.   
"Mickey-!"  
He's so distracted that he doesn't even notice that she called him by his casual name.

"I ate your pudding cup." Lip informs Mick once he's back in the lunchroom and in front of the table he sits alone at.  
" _I don't care about that."_ Although he slightly does.  
"Where were you?"  
"I lost Ian's phone number."  
"So you cried about it?" Lip can tell by the look of his face.  
" _Fuck you man, no."_  
Lip cackles. "Then what happened? You look pretty upset."  
"I _spilled_ to the secretary, alright?" Mickey sits down with him.  
" _Callaster?"_  
"Yeah. This has never happened before, man, I just— _broke down._ " He still can't believe it.  
"You should _really_ probably see a counselor-"  
"Fuck off." Mickey doesn't want to hear it.  
"Hey guys," Ian comes walking up, almost shocking Mickey into cardiac arrest.  
" _Hey...!_ What's up?" He's waving eagerly.  
Here we go again.   
Lip puffs air out of his nostrils and looks away.  
"Hey," Ian sits next to Mickey so he-Mickey-is in the middle.  
"You okay-?"  
"Yeah allergies" Mick instantly covers up, making Lip scoff and shake his head.  
"So, uh, _funny_ story..." Mick begins to Ian, rubbing together his palms and his heart picking up a heavy beat.  
Ian's head spins at whatever the hell it is Mickey has to say to him.  
"I lost your phone number." After saying this Mickey assumes that Ian must think he's the _biggest_ fucking idiot in the world. Except he knows Ian wouldn't think something like that because he's so damn nice.  
"Oh! That's fine d-do you want another one?"  
' _Of course he does, idiot. He wouldn't be informing you about the situation if he didn't want to have it again'_ Lip thinks in response.  
' _Does he not care enough? Is that why he lost it? Does he need me to give it to him again and that's why he's telling me?'_ Meanwhile Ian's thinking his own thoughts.  
"Yeah..." Mickey smiles.  
' _Idiot_ ’ Lip thinks about Ian, while the Ian is thinking the same exact thing about himself.   
Lip scoffs. "Here."   
He reaches for a nearby napkin and takes a pen from his bag that sits on the floor next to his calf, tossing them both over to in front of his brother.  
Mickey observes Ian write down the number much more steadily and nonchalantly unlike the last time.  
Lip almost wants to say that he's proud.   
"Write yours down too" Mick tells him.  
"Jackass" he comments, pulling the napkin towards him and writing his number as well.  
They snicker at each other, and Ian feels it again. That need for a more natural relationship with Mickey, like Lip has. It's so _easy_ for them to make fun of each other; for them to just feel each other's atmosphere. With him and Mickey it's pure mush and excited worry.   
Not to mention so many other things.  
That may be because they're head over heels for one another, after only knowing each other for half a week.  
But that doesn't mean they can't have the kind of friendship Mickey has with Lip, right?  
Someday it will all be easier, where Ian and Mickey can have a romantic relationship, and a fun friendship with each other at the same time.  
Right now they're just getting through the stages of acting like complete imbeciles towards one another.  
Mickey takes the napkin and shoves it in his pocket.  
"I'll make sure not to be losing this."  
"Sure, idiot." Lip says.   
Ian laughs along with them, smiling at Mickey with the exact same glowing eyes that's being shined towards him.  
Lip then sees Karen and Mandy, sitting at a table not too far from theirs, laughing and sharing food.  
"So they're _seriously_ just giving up on me?" He can't believe it.  
" _Yes,_ fuckboy" Mickey asserts, laughing along with Ian again.  
Lip rolls his eyes at them repeatedly. " _Fine._ I don't care if they don't wanna flirt with me I just don't want them to be _mad_ at me." He fixes his gaze on the girls' again.   
" _Surreeee_ " Ian smiles. Mickey grins at him, and swears his heart almost stops when Ian actually smiles back.  
His hands have resumed sweating and legs almost turning numb. _Fuck_ Ian's gonna be the death of him. It’s like he needs to _train himself_ to act casually around him.  
"You know Mandy's got some boyfriend, right?" After Mickey's gotten ahold of himself, he decides to bring it up.  
"That guy from the mall?" Ian remembers.  
"Yup. A _high schooler."_ Mickey's the one rolling his eyes this time.  
" _What? Gross!"_ Lip yells.  
Ian scoffs at him while Mick is chuckling.  
" _Whatever,_ dude, just go fuck some chick and it'll all be okay" he smiles, Ian laughing loudly in response and making eye contact with Mick so he knows he'll think he's funny.  
Sometimes he think he's trying too hard.  
Little does he know that Mickey doesn't even think that he _has_ to try.   
Considering how smitten Mickey acts for Ian, Lip knows his brother doesn't need to bother to try either.  
Okay maybe he needs to try just a little. A bit of effort never hurt anyone.  
Meanwhile, he always thinks that Mickey could tone it down just a little bit.  
The way he's looking right now is on the verge of another anxiety attack.  
Lip shakes his head at the two of them, the two that are complete idiots if they can't tell that that their feelings are the exact opposite of unrequited.  
So, the idiots.

At the high school, Joey interrupts Fiona's meal she's trying to eat at the table she sits at with her group of friends.  
"Hey Fiona."  
"I have six other girls' here. They're all available take your pick” she says with a mouthful of chicken.  
Those same six girls' all recoil.  
" _Ew_ ,"  
"No."  
"No way."   
They all shut him down in their own ways.  
He scoffs angrily with a frown across his face.  
" _Whatever,"_ He crosses his arms, trying not to let it get to him.  
"What do you want." Fiona's swallowed her food. "I told you I'm still not letting you pour anything in chemistry yet."  
"Not that. I need a _big_ favor."  
"What is it..." She's hesitant to know.  
"You have that job at the food truck, right?"  
"The food truck you got pulled away by security from? Yes."  
Her friends all snicker and giggle.  
"Yeah. Um—how hard it is to get a job there?"  
"Not too hard. If you're gonna make the food then you need experience."  
"So, doing what you do-taking orders and serving-it shouldn't be hard to get hired for?" Joey hopes.  
"Nah. But if you or Mickey are thinking about working there then you gotta make sure you're not recognized by the employees who saw the fight."  
" _Crap_." Joey realizes.  
" _You_ wanna work there?" Fiona cringes.  
"Yeah! Imagine. _You, me, working together-"_ He glides his palm across the air, making Fiona roll her eyes and the rest of her friends laugh.  
"I'll talk to my boss."  
"So we can work together?" He grins.  
"We'll see. Now shoo." She gestures him off.  
" _Yes.."_ He whispers, walking away with a dorky smile.  
After he's gone, Fiona looks back at the other girls' before they all laugh.

Afterwards, Lip watches Mickey catch up with Ian who's on his way to class, twenty feet behind them within the hall and crossing his arms at what he's about to witness.  
 _This_ should be good.   
"Hey..." Mickey starts, stopping next to Ian who's only stopped walking due to pure shock.   
"Hi..." The usual is already happening. Fast heartbeat, rushing thoughts. sweating body, red face...  
He hopes it'll get less intense with each interaction.  
"So, you still cool with coming to my place with Lip?"  
He didn't stutter this time. A step forward, perhaps.  
"Yeah! Yeah I'm totally good with it" Ian answers, maybe just a little too eagerly.  
For Mickey, the more eager Ian is the better.   
"Sweet. Uh you gonna go back to ROTC now that your leg's healed?"  
"Uhhh I can go back tomorrow" Ian decides. ROTC was the top priority until his feelings for Mickey came along.  
"Really?"  
Is Ian ditching ROTC _just_ to be with him?   
"Yeah. Maybe we can all just walk back together." Ian flashes a smile, keeping his cool.  
"Y-yeah..." Mickey feels exactly the opposite; practically woozy almost about to fall over.  
"That's c-cool. Um I'll see you Ian..." He doesn't want to leave him, but at this rate it's better he leave so he doesn't keep making a complete _fool_ out himself. Not that Ian minds, or even notices.  
As usual, he's oblivious.  
“I’ll see you in a bit,” Ian smiles.  
“Bye...” Smile plastered to his face, Mickey might just melt into a pile of mush once Ian leaves.  
“You still got my number right?” Ian smirks, and Mickey has to keep his balance.  
“Yup.”  
“Cool. See ya Mickey.”   
Mickey sighs dreamily as he watches the other boy.  
“Holy _crap...”_ He whispers, just as Lip comes running up and grabs his shoulder. “That’s the best you ever _did,_ man!” He encourages, as Mickey jumps and turns in his direction.  
“Y-you really think so?”   
“Hell _yeah,_ man.” This time Lip pats his shoulder.   
Mickey sighs heavier than before, crossing his arms and pushing his back up against the lockers behind him.  
“I like him _so_ much...” He slides down a little.  
“Really? I didn’t notice.”  
He smiles over at Lip, snickering at him before they playfully push each other back and forth on the way to class.  
Rather than tensing up and thinking about his abuse, Mickey enjoys it and lives in the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy!!! I can’t promise when the next chapter will be up, but it will be much longer. If you want to, you can check out my other fic called Somber features Gallavich and a lot more gayness <3


End file.
